Island Health has now identified two possible locations for supervised injection sites in Victoria and now it wants the public’s input on the proposed locations.
This feedback will be gathered prior to submitting an application to Health Canada.
The two possible locations, both downtown, are located at 941 Pandora Ave. and 2920 Bridge St., and were picked based on data on emergency overdose calls.
They will be modelled on Vancouver’s Insite, which was North America’s first legal supervised injection site.
Island Health says the two locations in Victoria are needed to combat the current overdose crisis in the province. The B.C. government is supporting all health authorities to submit applications for supervised consumption services in response to increased overdoses in B.C.
“Additional supervised consumption services is one of the key items we’re working on as part of our overdose response strategy,” said Health Minister Terry Lake in a release. “In nearly 15 years of operation, more than three million injections have taken place at Insite in Vancouver and not one person has died of an overdose. The evidence on them is very clear and demonstrates that they would be of great benefit to Vancouver Island.”
The Victoria Police Department is also on board.
“Public safety and community health remain top priorities for us, particularly in light of the current health crisis,” Victoria Police Department Acting Chief Constable, Del Manak said in a release. “We believe that a distributed model for delivering supervised consumption services will allow users access to important harm reduction alternatives in the same geographic areas where they currently receive community supports.”
Over the coming weeks, Island Health will be holding two drop-in public meetings:
- Nov. 22 in Burnside-Gorge/Rock Bay (Centennial United Church from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.)
- Nov. 23 in downtown Victoria (City Hall from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.)
Feedback can also be provided via email and through an online survey available through www.viha.ca/scs. Feedback received before Dec. 2 will be evaluated and incorporated as required for the application for exemption to Health Canada.
Comments