Health officials are hopeful a pair of supervised drug consumption sites being opened in Surrey over the next two weeks will help decrease the number of deadly overdoses in the city.
The first SafePoint location, being operated in partnership between Fraser Health and the Lookout Emergency Aid Society, is scheduled to open on 135A Street Thursday, while the second, located at Quibble Creek Sobering Assessment Centre, is set to open the following week.
Surrey is B.C.'s second largest city, and has seen the second most deadly drug overdoses during the province's opioid crisis. There were 51 fatalities recorded in the city from January to April this year, and 113 for all of 2016.
"The overdose crisis has claimed many sons, daughters, partners, and friends, and supervised consumption services will help reduce the number of people in our community dying due to overdose while providing opportunities to connect people with treatment," Provincial Health Officer Dr. Perry Kendall said in a news release.
SafePoint will begin by supervising drug injections, but Fraser Health is also asking for federal permission to supervise oral and intra-nasal drug consumption as well, which would be a first for Canada.
The Safepoint on 135A Street will be open from 7 a.m. to 1 a.m. daily, which Fraser Health said covers the period people are statistically most likely to overdose in the area, while the other will be open between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m.
Staff at both will direct drug users to health care supports and community services that can potentially help them stop using.
"I know these services will help make a difference to the people who use substances here,” said Shayne Williams, executive director for the Lookout Emergency Aid Society. “Our staff will play an important role in not only reversing potentially fatal overdoses, but in connecting people with health care and other supports that could lead to positive life changes.”
Even Mayor Linda Hepner, who last summer suggested Surrey should seek alternatives to opening supervised consumption sites, said she supports the SafePoint programs.
She described the services offered as playing "an important role" in preventing deaths and helping people on their road to recovery.
Insite, the supervised injection site in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside, has been operating since 2003, and has been used nearly 3.5 million times since, according to Vancouver Coastal Health.
Staff have intervened in 4,922 overdoses since the facility opened its doors, none of which resulted in death.
