Surrey's first supervised injection site opens Thursday
Surrey has the province's 2nd highest number of fatal drug overdoses outside of Vancouver
Scott MacFarlane crouches in front of one of the dozens of tents and tarps that line 135A Street in Surrey and unzips a pouch containing a syringe and vial of naloxone.
It's a life saving antidote he has personally administered six times since January, when he has come across people who have overdosed.
"I see it all the time.The ambulances and people OD'ing become part of the scenery."
However, there is now a new addition to the landscape in an area known in Surrey as "the strip."
Beginning Thursday, a supervised injection site called SafePoint will be up and running 16 hours a day.
It will be operated by the Lookout Emergency Aid society and staffed by four people at all times, including a registered nurse.
Injection only, for now.
The site is housed in a large portable.
Inside, there are seven separate booths where people can inject drugs, as well as access supplies, such as new syringes.
Officials had applied to Health Canada to receive an exemption that would allow users to take drugs orally and intranasally at the site as well, but that has not yet been granted.
"Our hope is to gain the rapport and trust of intravenous drug users and drug users in general here, said Shayne Williams, Lookout's executive director.
He says there will be a liaison worker who can connect users to other services like shelters and treatment programs. There about 50 people who live on the street across from the new site.
"There is a moment of clarity now and then when people want to make a change, and our work is to capitalize on the moments."
3rd site in B.C.
This is the third supervised consumption site to be opened in British Columbia and the first outside of Vancouver.
Those who work in outreach say the demand is great, because the city has the second highest number of drug overdose deaths in the province and the numbers are rising.
There were 113 deaths in the community last year, but the statistics only tell part of the story when it comes to drug use in the area.
"Many of the overdoses are actually dealt with in the community on the strip," said Dr. Victoria Lee, chief medical health officer for the Fraser Health Authority.
Staff at Lookout say they have responded to 300 drug overdoses so far this year, which is a big spike from the 400 they dealt with in 2016.
A second supervised consumption site is scheduled to open in Surrey later this month.
It will be in a smaller space and will be located at the Quibble Creek Sobering and Assessment Centre.