The outgoing city council will have at least one big decision to make at their final meeting Nov. 20.
As part of the city's response to the opioid crisis, councillors will vote whether to spend $60,000 to fund an $80,000 study into whether the city would benefit from opening a safe injection site for addicts. The remaining cost would be covered by other community organizations that are part of the Community Drug Strategy (CDS).
The Sudbury's CDS has representatives from more than 25 community partners, including health, social services, education, police, justice and emergency services.
While the Doug Ford government has frozen provincial money for the sites while it conducts a review, a staff report on the plan says a new policy is emerging that includes “further monitoring, reporting, and community consultation with more access to social services.
“The full details of the new policy framework have not been released at the time of writing,” the report says. “However, the province has indicated that former sites along with new sites would have to apply for funding.”
The feasibility study would be required as part of a funding application to the province, should the CDS group decide a safe injection site is needed.
In a release Monday, Public Health Sudbury said they're ready to release a tender to get quotes on the costs of contracting someone to head up the study.
“The study’s goal is to identify local needs and determine if supervised consumption services would be a potential solution for some of the drug issues in Greater Sudbury,” Dr. Penny Sutcliffe, medical officer of health and co-chair of the CDS, says in the release.
“As part of the Community Drug Strategy, we need to think broadly about drug use, and supervised consumption services are one avenue to explore, as is being done in other communities,” Police Chief Paul Pedersen, who is also co-chair, said in the release.
Dr. Ariella Zbar, associate medical officer of health, said the study builds on the town hall held last week by Sudbury MPP Jamie West on the crisis.
“The use and harms from opioids and other drugs affect all socioeconomic levels in our community, and this study will help better understand the needs of those who use drugs, the needs of the community, and the next steps to take to address these issues,” Zbar said.
In the area covered by the health unit, opioid-related deaths have doubled in a year, rising from 17 in 2016 to 34 in 2017, the release said. In all, there were 391 emergency department visits in 2017 related to drug-related overdoses.
Other facts about the crisis from Public Health Sudbury:
- Supervised consumption services are controlled spaces where people can consume drugs under the supervision of trained staff in a clean and safe environment.
- People who use the services can also receive basic medical care and referrals to other health and social services.
- Supervised consumption services are legal in Canada with federal government approval.
- Supervised consumption services DO NOT provide drugs to people.
If funding is approved by city council, the study would take about a year to complete, unless provincial funding deadlines require it to be completed early.
