A plan by the former Albertas NDP government to put safe injection sites in urban areas has been a failure, says a new report..But the report’s authors haven’t made any recommendations to the Kenney government as to whether the facilities should be shuttered, improved or moved..“The committee found serious problems with supervised consumption services as they are currently being operated,” said the report..Associate Minister of Mental Health and Addictions Jason Luan said 19,000 Albertans had been consulted about the sites..He said he was “deeply troubled” by them and called it a “system of chaos.”.And he said there may be “financial irregularities” at the Lethbridge site..Laun said a team of auditors went to the Lethbridge clinic, run by a non-profit group called ARCHES, Wednesday seizing books..“This report is a wake-up call for Alberta. Every one of us deserves to feel safe in our communities, and every Albertan struggling with addiction should be able to access the supports they need. We will consider this report, and all other relevant evidence, as we develop a comprehensive, long-term approach that works,” Laun said.. JasonLuanAssociate Minister of Mental Health and Addictions .“That means improving addiction treatment services and supports to create a full continuum of care across the province.”.Shockingly, while no one has died in a safe injection site, deaths within 500 metres of one have gone up 64% to 46 since they opened..The report talked about one site giving up to 500 needles a day to one client; children being pricked with discarded needles and human waste all around injection sites..“There wasn’t a day that went by our team didn’t hear the word ‘feces,'” said Laun..There were also incidents of site workers interfering with police trying to enforce the law..Key findings from the report include:.Increased needle debris and deteriorating public safety around the sites were significant concerns raised during the town halls, through the surveys and in stakeholder meetings.While there were no deaths recorded among people at the SCS sites, death rates in the immediate vicinity of the sites after the sites opened continued to increase along with province-wide rates of opioid deaths.Opioid-related calls for emergency medical services also increased in the immediate vicinity following the opening of the sites.Many people indicated they felt less safe in the areas surrounding the SCS sites after they opened.Lack of focus on referrals to detoxification and treatment resources.Inconsistent and often inaccurate classification of “overdose reversals.”Substantial increases in the use of non-opioid substance use, specifically methamphetamines, leading to aggressive behaviour endangering public safety..There are currently seven safe injection sites in Alberta – four in Edmonton, with Calgary, Lethbridge and Grande Prairie each having one..The report said about 50% of site users are consuming meth, something which they weren’t designed to do..The report said the Lethbridge site may be the busiest in the world and one of the costliest..“While most of the other sites have a cost under $600 per unique client, the cost in Lethbridge is over five times that, at $3,270 per unique client. The Committee could not find any plausible explanation for this, and there was no mention of it by the Alberta Health management contact person who would have overseen this in the past.”.Crime in the area of the Lethbridge site was also mentioned by residents as a huge problem, with members of the government committee seeing it first hand..“Committee members also observed what appeared to be drug trafficking.as well as prostitution..“Another law enforcement officer stated that, ‘There has been attempts by the SCS staff to destroy video evidence. They had a pregnant lady have [a] miscarriage immediately after using their facility. They became offended when I asked what.their procedures were for pregnant women and filed a formal complaint.’”.Lethbridge residents also complained about needle garbage..The committee noted one ARCHES representative said they give away 37,000 needles a month. The group claimed all but 400 had been accounted for..“Given the directly observed residual level of needle debris around the site, however, this assertion does not appear plausible and appears to defy credulity.”.Numerous complaints were received by the Review Committee about how the Lethbridge site is operated..“The Review Committee was also informed by ARCHES that it currently employs 174 persons working at the site. Putting this into context, at the time the Review Committee visited Lethbridge the site was seeing approximately 130-135 unique.users per day. At the same time, police in Lethbridge had 161 constables on staff..“An ARCHES worker told the Committee that approximately 40 per cent of workers at the SCS are “addicts in recovery” themselves. There was no apparent concern about the associated occupational risk or relapse risk to those workers in recovery.”.The report will now go to the government who will decide what to do with each site on a city to city basis..“I am open to how best make sense of this,” said Laun.’.After the report was issued. Calgary mayor Naheed Nenshi called for more injection sites in the city..The entire report can be read here..Dave Naylor is the News Editor of the Western Standard.dnaylor@westernstandardonline.com.Twitter: Nobby7694
A plan by the former Albertas NDP government to put safe injection sites in urban areas has been a failure, says a new report..But the report’s authors haven’t made any recommendations to the Kenney government as to whether the facilities should be shuttered, improved or moved..“The committee found serious problems with supervised consumption services as they are currently being operated,” said the report..Associate Minister of Mental Health and Addictions Jason Luan said 19,000 Albertans had been consulted about the sites..He said he was “deeply troubled” by them and called it a “system of chaos.”.And he said there may be “financial irregularities” at the Lethbridge site..Laun said a team of auditors went to the Lethbridge clinic, run by a non-profit group called ARCHES, Wednesday seizing books..“This report is a wake-up call for Alberta. Every one of us deserves to feel safe in our communities, and every Albertan struggling with addiction should be able to access the supports they need. We will consider this report, and all other relevant evidence, as we develop a comprehensive, long-term approach that works,” Laun said.. JasonLuanAssociate Minister of Mental Health and Addictions .“That means improving addiction treatment services and supports to create a full continuum of care across the province.”.Shockingly, while no one has died in a safe injection site, deaths within 500 metres of one have gone up 64% to 46 since they opened..The report talked about one site giving up to 500 needles a day to one client; children being pricked with discarded needles and human waste all around injection sites..“There wasn’t a day that went by our team didn’t hear the word ‘feces,'” said Laun..There were also incidents of site workers interfering with police trying to enforce the law..Key findings from the report include:.Increased needle debris and deteriorating public safety around the sites were significant concerns raised during the town halls, through the surveys and in stakeholder meetings.While there were no deaths recorded among people at the SCS sites, death rates in the immediate vicinity of the sites after the sites opened continued to increase along with province-wide rates of opioid deaths.Opioid-related calls for emergency medical services also increased in the immediate vicinity following the opening of the sites.Many people indicated they felt less safe in the areas surrounding the SCS sites after they opened.Lack of focus on referrals to detoxification and treatment resources.Inconsistent and often inaccurate classification of “overdose reversals.”Substantial increases in the use of non-opioid substance use, specifically methamphetamines, leading to aggressive behaviour endangering public safety..There are currently seven safe injection sites in Alberta – four in Edmonton, with Calgary, Lethbridge and Grande Prairie each having one..The report said about 50% of site users are consuming meth, something which they weren’t designed to do..The report said the Lethbridge site may be the busiest in the world and one of the costliest..“While most of the other sites have a cost under $600 per unique client, the cost in Lethbridge is over five times that, at $3,270 per unique client. The Committee could not find any plausible explanation for this, and there was no mention of it by the Alberta Health management contact person who would have overseen this in the past.”.Crime in the area of the Lethbridge site was also mentioned by residents as a huge problem, with members of the government committee seeing it first hand..“Committee members also observed what appeared to be drug trafficking.as well as prostitution..“Another law enforcement officer stated that, ‘There has been attempts by the SCS staff to destroy video evidence. They had a pregnant lady have [a] miscarriage immediately after using their facility. They became offended when I asked what.their procedures were for pregnant women and filed a formal complaint.’”.Lethbridge residents also complained about needle garbage..The committee noted one ARCHES representative said they give away 37,000 needles a month. The group claimed all but 400 had been accounted for..“Given the directly observed residual level of needle debris around the site, however, this assertion does not appear plausible and appears to defy credulity.”.Numerous complaints were received by the Review Committee about how the Lethbridge site is operated..“The Review Committee was also informed by ARCHES that it currently employs 174 persons working at the site. Putting this into context, at the time the Review Committee visited Lethbridge the site was seeing approximately 130-135 unique.users per day. At the same time, police in Lethbridge had 161 constables on staff..“An ARCHES worker told the Committee that approximately 40 per cent of workers at the SCS are “addicts in recovery” themselves. There was no apparent concern about the associated occupational risk or relapse risk to those workers in recovery.”.The report will now go to the government who will decide what to do with each site on a city to city basis..“I am open to how best make sense of this,” said Laun.’.After the report was issued. Calgary mayor Naheed Nenshi called for more injection sites in the city..The entire report can be read here..Dave Naylor is the News Editor of the Western Standard.dnaylor@westernstandardonline.com.Twitter: Nobby7694
