Downtown eyed for safe drug consumption site

Downtown eyed for safe drug consumption site

The new NDP government has confirmed it plans to open a supervised consumption site in downtown Winnipeg, as drug overdose deaths reach record highs in Manitoba.

A mandate letter sent by Premier Wab Kinew to Bernadette Smith, minister responsible for housing addictions, homelessness and mental health, includes establishing “a supervised consumption site in downtown Winnipeg to save lives and connect Manitobans with health care and social supports.”

A safe consumption site will help the city battle homelessness and addictions, said Jamil Mahmood, executive director of Main Street Project.

Earlier this year, the organization joined more than 80 others to sign an open letter criticizing the then-Tory government for closing the door on creating one here.

“It is in our strategic plan to work to operate one on our own or to work with others to help create one. This gives a lot of hope to the community,” Mahmood said on Wednesday.

“Whoever gets to do it, and it is funded, we would be there to help. We have a plan in place and we know how to get the appropriate federal exemptions. We are poised and ready to go.”

According to statistics from Manitoba’s Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, there were 418 total drug-related overdose deaths in 2022, up from 407 at about the same in 2021 (the number later grew to 424 after more deaths were confirmed). There were 371 drug deaths in 2020, up from 199 in 2019.

Marion Willis, the founder of St. Boniface Street Links which offers supportive housing to men and women transitioning out of homelessness, said the service is long needed.

“This is a critical component of a much larger harm reduction strategy,” Willis said.

“I’m hoping there will be a co-ordinated plan and, clearly, safe injection and safe supply is a part of all of that.”

Willis said she believes the best home for a safe injection site would be the province’s Rapid Access to Addictions Medicine (RAAM) Clinic, which are walk-in clinics for adults looking for help with addictions and for people experiencing substance-related health issues.

“The RAAM clinics are run by addiction doctors,” she said, noting there is one next to Health Sciences Centre, another in the Aboriginal Centre on Higgins Avenue, and a third in the Addictions Foundation of Manitoba’s Magnus Avenue facility.

“Not only does government have safe supply and consumption, you need to build a relationship with people and eventually steer them down more a recovery approach. The RAAM clinics would keep the services together.”

A supervised consumption site had been rejected for years by both the former Stefanson and Pallister governments.

While in opposition, Kinew said a site was needed, and now that the NDP has won a majority government, he has made it one of several priorities that needs to be accomplished by the new minister.

“Your goal is simple, but the task is immense — to solve the challenge that we see each and every day across Manitoba when we drive by bridges and bus shelters, when we visit downtown Winnipeg, Brandon or even the suburbs,” Kinew said in the letter to Smith dated Oct. 19, but made public this week.

“You will lead our government’s response to the humanitarian crisis we see on our streets with dignity and compassion.”

Kinew noted it would take two terms of government to end chronic homelessness in the province, but a safe drug injection site is also another key commitment the NDP made that Smith will have to put in place.

Smith was not available on Wednesday for an interview, but said in a statement: “We are working in collaboration with community partners to determine what the most effective safe consumption site would optimally include to best serve Manitobans struggling with substance use and support them in their journey to recovery.”

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