Skip to content

Editorial: Overdose crisis needs local response

Supervised consumption isn’t a solution, but it’s a critical response to an crisis that is ongoing
web1_170419-ABB-Fentanyl_1
Safe consumption must continue to be available in our community and supported by all levels of government via resources and services. (BLACK PRESS file)

Supervised consumption isn’t a solution, but it’s a critical response to an overdose crisis that is ongoing.

Island Health is working with the City of Nanaimo to secure permanent space for a supervised consumption site. Since January, the health authority has been overseeing drug consumption at a supportive housing complex on Wesley Street. There is some debate about the merits of the building as a permanent location, but we do know the service is being accessed there – more than 750 times already this year.

Whether there or elsewhere downtown, we believe safe consumption must continue to be available in our community and supported by all levels of government via resources and services. It’s one aspect of what needs to be a multi-faceted strategy. Law enforcement and the justice system have important roles. Mental health care, detox and counselling are important. Broad, overlapping social ills such as poverty and homelessness can be causes and effects of drug abuse.

It’s not surprising, perhaps, that fentanyl hasn’t been a major subject of conversation on the B.C. campaign trail this month. As parties try to sell voters on visions for B.C., it’s convenient to play down topics they might not wish to talk about. That said, the B.C. Liberals, NDP and Greens all have platform planks specific to the overdose crisis. The Liberals have promised specific investment in detox beds and recovery programs and a reduction in waitlists for treatment. Both the NDP and the Greens propose creating a ministry of mental health and addiction. The NDP would increase resources for first responders and the Greens promise millions for intervention and a response strategy that includes a drug-substitution program.

Depending who gets elected, the efficacy of these various strategies will have long-term consequences. We have a crisis now; what will be the scale of the problem in the future?

In the meantime, our community should be quick to support certain local measures we can take, such as safe consumption. Because we’re talking life and death here.