An eagerly awaited task force report released Friday has no recommendation for a safe-injection site because members could not agree around the topic.
City of Winnipeg Chief Corporate Support Services Officer, Michael Jack, who was on the Illicit Drug Task Force, said there wasn’t a consensus around recommending a safe injection site.
“There just wasn’t consensus,” said Jack. “The discussion around safe consumption is a different discussion depending on what type of substance you’re talking about.
“When people talk about safe consumption it is usually focused on opioids,” and meth is a different discussion altogether, he said.
The report does has 24 recommendations, including the creation of a centralized needle distribution and recovery network.
“A provincial centralized distribution network … would significantly improve the consistency of harm reduction services across the province,” reads the report.
“The program should also include the availability of drug testing, a technology that is available to offer the testing for the presence of harmful additives in the drugs prior to consumption.
“Injection with a used needle puts people who inject drugs at risk for blood‐borne pathogen transmission and can damage the skin, soft tissue, and veins. Needle‐sharing rates have declined across Canada due in most part to provincial harm reduction and needle return programs.”
Winnipeg has struggled with the sheer number of needles found on the ground throughout the city, from parks to school grounds to back alleys.
The Bear Clan said earlier this year that they picked up 20,000 used needles in the first three months of 2019.
MP Robert Falcon Oulette called the report underwhelming.
“It lacks a bit more specificity, it doesn’t actually give any demands of any level of government, so what do we want from the Province, what do we want from the City, what do you need from the federal government?”
“You know, how many hours extra do we need in the RAM clinic? How many extra beds to we need in the detox. How many extra beds do we need in short, medium term treatment and then how many do we need in long term treatment?
“We need a concrete proposal and that’s what I was hoping for from the task force.”
Jack said it’s up to each level of government to decide how to allocate resources, so the task force didn’t make specific recommendations in terms of how much to expand programming. He also said there were no cost estimates for the recommendations.
There is no prioritization on the recommendations, and no timeline for when those recommendations should be completed, Jack added.
“What I think we’re going to try to do … is keep this group together. There’s a real desire expressed by the members of the working group … to stay together at least periodically.
“[We want to] continue to hold the government feet to the fire … to try and make sure everyone stays on track.”
Premier Brian Pallister told 680CJOB that health minister Cameron Friesen would be making a statement later Friday.
Mayor Brian Bowman, however, released a list of motions that would be made before Executive Policy Committee in support of several of the recommendations, including zoning for safe injection sites “when supported by the Province of Manitoba.”
The recommendations:
- Education for landlords regarding mechanisms to address problems that impact community and public safety
- Develop and promote Community Safety Networks
- Promote the use of Crime Stoppers for reporting drug-related activities
- Support community in developing accessible, culturally appropriate recreation opportunities for children and youth to build resilience, including skilled recreation leadership programs
- Engage with national, provincial and local businesses to provide access to employment through partnership that provides opportunities
- Build on what’s working: 24/7 ‘Safe Spaces’ (longer hours for safe spaces)
- Expand the capacity of the Winnipeg Drug Treatment court
- Establish Drug Treatment Courts across the province
- Provide housing supports for Drug Treatment Court participants that need assistance acquiring safe, secure housing
- Create joint enforcement and disruption teams
- Improve data sharing and analytics capacity to better facilitate intelligence-led data-driven policing
- Examine how information sharing can help community members and organizations in their work
- Amend or introduce legislation to ensure individuals involved in the illicit drug trade do not profit from unlawful activities.
- Deliver detoxification, medical transition, treatment and supportive housing through an evidence based, co-ordinated continuum of care
- Limit barriers and increase access to available treatment spaces
- Expand Rapid Access to Addictions Medicine (RAAM) clinics and primary care capacity to manage patients with addictions
- Increase emergent Telehealth mental health and addiction service for adults and youth, in particular to rural areas
- Develop an integrated community outreach program, including a program of assertive community treatment
- Create additional withdrawal management services across the province
- Examine whether The Intoxicated Persons Detention Act (IPDA) requires
modification (such as length of time of detention) due to the unique circumstances
of meth addiction. - Review and implement culturally appropriate programming
- Create a centralized harm reduction supply distribution, including safe distribution and recovery of needles
- Examine how to best utilize peer experience and support to promote public health practices to reduce harms and risks
- Improve health data surveillance systems
- Develop an alert system for disseminating information
- Use technology to enhance communication strategies
- Develop a comprehensive communications/media strategy