Long-time Kelowna resident Rob Fforsyth says he has lost so many friends to drug overdoses there are too many to count.
“A lot of my friends have gone down, and I’ve lost some friends recently,” he said outside the Union Gospel Mission on Saturday afternoon.
That’s why he said he is in favour of a proposed mobile drug consumption service, possibly the first of its kind in Canada, to help save lives during a crisis that has reached epic proportions.
“It can’t hurt to try it. I really appreciate that those looking over us have a heart to consider such a thing,” he said.
The health authority wants to open mobile consumption services in both Kelowna and Kamloops.
Medical Health Officer Dr. Silvina Mema said the small bus, RV or van would be staffed by a nurse and a counsellor.
“It is a service that allows people who use drugs to come in and use drugs under supervision, and that’s because of the crisis that we are facing with overdose deaths,” she said during a Friday news conference.
However, Mema said the application to Health Canada hasn’t yet been made and a timeframe on possible implementation isn’t known.
“This is only an application for an exemption. It doesn’t mean that the service is going to be up and running next week or tomorrow,” she said.
However, president of H.O.P.E outreach Angie Lohr said it’s a “Band-Aid solution.”
“I’m glad that it is happening. I would have maybe liked a permanent site where people could actually come in and come off the street,” she said.
In November the Interior Health Authority proposed a supervised injection facility to operate on Leon Avenue in downtown Kelowna.
After significant opposition from some nearby business owners, the plan has been scrapped.
“We have talked extensively with Interior Health about a mobile unit which would travel to parts of the community where overdoses are happening right now. In our discussions, we believe a mobile unit will reach more people and have a greater impact,” said the Downtown Kelowna Association in a statement.
Last month an overdose prevention site was supposed to open in Rutland, but after it proved unpopular with business owners, the landlord said no.
Shortly after, a grassroots group of volunteers opened a pop-up safe injection site one block away before it was quickly shut down after concerns from a nearby daycare.
For now, the only overdose prevention site operating in the city is at the former Kelowna Health Centre on Ellis Street.
Mema said that location is gaining traction.
“It started slow, but now we are seeing that people are going and people are using the service there,” she said.
For Fforsyth, more help can’t come soon enough.
“It’s breaking my heart, anything we can do to help save lives.”