Health authority rejects supervised drug consumption site for Richmond

Hours after city councillors voted to explore opening a supervised drug consumption site in Richmond, the local health authority rejected the proposal outright.

On Wednesday afternoon, Vancouver Coastal Health told CTV News a supervised consumption site would not be "the most appropriate" service for the city.

"Stand-alone sites work best in communities where there is a significant concentration of people at risk, since people will not travel far for these services," the health authority said in a statement.

Vancouver Coastal Health added that it will continue working with the city to improve overdose prevention services to keep residents safe – but "will not be moving forward with a stand-alone supervised consumption site."

The update appears to mark an abrupt end to a proposal that sparked heated debate at city hall.

The controversy began with a motion from Coun. Kash Heed to "gauge the potential benefits and challenges" of opening a supervised consumption site near Richmond Hospital.

Dozens of residents signed up to speak on the proposal over two days – during which Mayor Malcolm Brodie had to interject on numerous occasions to stop people from applauding or yelling.

Councillors ultimately approved the motion in a vote of 7-2 that took place close to midnight on Tuesday.

Heed told CTV News that Richmond still intends to explore the proposal, noting that 26 people died from toxic drugs in the city last year.

"I'm sure that's going to double this year unless we do something outspoken and creative to deal with our situation," he said. "These are home-grown people that are dying in our communities, in our public spaces."

Heed also expressed surprise at the health authority's response, given that Dr. Meena Dawar, medical health officer with Vancouver Coastal Health, offered her support for "the motion calling for overdose prevention services" in a letter to Richmond council dated Feb. 5.

"While Richmond local health area has the lowest rate of drug toxicity deaths in B.C., and the numbers have stabilized and are slowly coming down, each death represents a profound loss of a young life and unimaginable grief for family and friends," the letter reads. "We can and should continue to do more to keep people safe as they navigate their illness and treatment journey."

Heed questioned whether there was "political interference" that led to the health authority's quick refusal on Wednesday.

Richmond officials had always acknowledged that opening and operating a supervised consumption site would be up to Health Canada and Vancouver Coastal Health, requiring an exemption from the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act.

Vancouver has 12 supervised consumption sites, including the first that ever opened in North America. According to federal data, no fatal overdoses have occurred at any supervised consumption site across the country.

Toxic drugs killed 2,511 British Columbians in 2023.

With files from CTV News Vancouver's Yasmin Gandham