The recent rollback of 10 supervised consumption sites in Toronto is clear and present danger to
health + safety, aided by those who are historically the most protected, but harmed least by
indifferent policy: drug warriors. Supervised consumption sites (SCS) are harm reduction
facilities that have been providing safe places for drug users to consume drugs under the
supervision of medical staff. Taken together, they help prevent overdoses and lower the risk of
transmission of infectious diseases such as HIV; provide access to life-saving health and social
services.
The absence of these sites simply creates a dangerous gap for the largely unaware prevalence in
injection drug users, and places them at more risk to use under unsafe & unsupervised
circumstances. Injecting drug use ranks among the most efficient routes of transmission, with up
to three times higher incidence rates in some regions; without access to clean needles and safe
injection practices that provide immediate medical treatment if overdose does occur.
Furthermore, the probable decrease in SCS functionality will likely result in an increase of
overdose-related deaths. By reducing the number of consumption sites, there is no doubt that
more Canadians will die due to an opioid crisis which has yet to reach a resolution.
The vital infrastructure that consumption sites provide will result in greater demands on the
resources of public health systems, AIDS service organizations (ASOs), and community service
organizations (CSOs), all of which are already under stress from these closures. People who are
homeless or have complicated medical needs may face more obstacles in getting the treatment
they require, which will exacerbate already-existing disparities.
I cannot stress enough how choices about the shutdown of these kinds of essential health services
should never be made on an arbitrary basis. It is important to consult those in the front lines,
harm- reduction professionals, people who use drugs, and the larger society in a democratic
country like Canada. These organizations can provide solutions that put the needs of the public,
safety, and human dignity first, and they provide essential insight into the daily struggles faced
by drug users. Decisions made in the absence of this kind of consultation run the risk of not only
making the opioid problem worse but also weakening the cooperation and trust that are essential
to defeating it.
