Kelowna considers safe injection site locations

The number of overdose deaths caused by illicit drugs is on the rise in B.C. and the Provincial Medical Health Officer has declared a public health emergency.

The B.C. Coroners Service said there were 488 overdose deaths in the province from January to August of this year

That’s a 61.6 per cent increase over the same period the year before.

Of those deaths, 80 happened in the Interior Health Authority (IHA) region, prompting IHA to propose safe injection sites for both Kamloops and Kelowna; though it is not ready to reveal where those sites will be.

“We have done extensive consultation and we’re hoping to have sorted out actual locations…in the next two to three weeks,” Dr. Trevor Corneil, Chief Medical Health Officer for the region said.

Once the site locations are announced, Interior Health said there will be plenty of time for public consultation.

“We are going to let the public know what the sites are and make sure they have opportunity for input so we can address some of those concerns, then we’ll submit that to Health Canada,” Dr. Corneil said.

Sheila Kerr with Living Positive Kelowna, an organization that works with people who are at risk, said her concern is saving lives.

“It’s hard to know one day to the next if i’m going to see a person again,” said Kerr. “Often when I have an interaction with someone, that crosses my mind. Sometimes it is the last time that I will see them.”

Kerr said between the public consultation, and the federal government’s reluctance to approve new sites, it could be months before the program is actually set up here.

“For anybody that is trying to establish a new supervised consumption service, it’s a months long process, and we don’t have months; people are dying.”