Turning Point encouraged by federal comments on SCS and decriminalization

Another 84,000-plus referrals have been made to health and social services.

“The evidence shows us that supervised consumption sites and services save lives and can provide people who use drugs with access to health and social services and treatment,” said Patty Hajdu, federal minister of health.

“As we see the COVID-19 outbreak worsening the situation for Canadians struggling with substance use disorders, it is more important than ever to ensure support is available. The feedback we are gathering from communities across Canada will help us to better understand how we can continue to help Canadians and save lives.”

Turning Point Executive Director, Stacey Carmichael, believes the comments are a positive step.

“I don’t know what’s going to happen [with the provincial review], but I do know the province is committed to a whole continuum of services. That said, everything has shown that supervised consumption needs to be a part of that continuum,” says Carmichael.

“We have noticed more fatalities [during the pandemic]. We can’t give numbers just yet, and we are waiting for the Alberta government’s next surveillance report, but I think we may be surprised by the numbers and disappointed for sure.”

Last year’s Q2 report was released in September.

Carmichael notes that with half the number of regular booths available at the overdose prevention site, maintaining accessibility for everyone who needs it has been difficult. Visits have dropped to 100 per day from 175 pre-COVID.

As for decriminalization, Dr. Theresa Tam, the country’s chief medical officer of health, was questioned last Friday on the matter.

She said the situation is “escalating as we speak.”

Tam went on to say that increasing access to a safer supply of drugs and building more supervised consumption sites are among the critical steps needed to reduce opioid deaths.

But she also noted how all approaches must be considered, including “moving toward a societal discussion on decriminalization.”

“I couldn’t agree more. This ‘war on drugs’ that Nixon started has been a dismal failure and probably has resulted in a variety of unintended consequences, such as death,” Carmichael says.

“Drug use and substance use disorder is not a criminal issue, at least it shouldn’t be. It’s a social and health issue, and criminalizing just a small amount of drugs for personal use has created a whole lot of issues.”

Carmichael says people are charged and end up with a criminal record simply because of the stigma attached to using drugs.

“People aren’t getting help they need, and they can’t talk to their families. If anything, it’ll help to reduce that stigma,” she says. “Some folks think that if there aren’t legal ramifications for using, more people will try them, but I’m not sure I would agree because of what I’ve read about Portugal. They’re seeing less problematic use.”

The European nation decriminalized the use of all drugs in 2001. Reported figures have shown declines in HIV infection, drug use among those aged 15-24, and death.

“At the end of the day, the big guys making the boatloads of drugs, those aren’t the guys impacted by criminalization,” says Carmichael. “It’s someone walking down the street with a point in their pocket. Criminalization is not impacting the people that it should.”

The federal SCS survey is available at Canada.ca.

by Josh Hall (Twitter: @Vancan19)

Turning Point encouraged by federal comments on SCS and decriminalization

What's Trending