A week after their opening, politicians got together to officially inaugurate Montreal’s supervised injection sites, but not everybody was singing their praises.
Chantal Beauregard and Daniel Marangere live near the Cactus site.
They came out to confront Montreal Mayor Denis Coderre on the issue.
“It’s gross, there never used to be needles on the street. Now they’re parked outside waiting for their dealer. They’re shooting up outside,” Marangere said.
Cactus is located on Berger street. It’s one of the two supervised injection sites in operation, along with Dopamine in Hochelaga-Maisonneuve and a mobile unit that has been patrolling the downtown and southwest borough.
READ MORE: Supervised injection sites open in Montreal — one of them is mobile
A third site is set to open this fall 200 m away from the Marguerite-Bourgeoys Elementary school.
Some parents are so upset they’ve started a petition to stop the site from opening but officials remain firm with their position.
“There’s already Insight in Vancouver that proves to us that it’s going well, that it’s a success story. So I don’t see why it wouldn’t work here,” Quebec’s Public Health Minister Lucie Charlebois told Global News.
Officials say there’s an adjustment period and they want the community to know these services will create more good than harm in the city.
They insist the sites are necessary to control the spread of diseases and to prevent a potential opioid crisis like the one in B.C.
READ MORE: Drug overdose deaths in B.C. rise to 488 for 2017
The government says they will monitor the situation closely and evaluate in the fall.
Supervised Injection Sites in Montreal:
- Cactus Montreal: 1244 Berger
- Dopamine: 3591 Ste. Catherine St. E.
- Spectre de Rue: 1280 Ontario E. (set to open in September, 2017)
- L’Anonyme: mobile unit serving the downtown and South-West borough
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