Dispute over location for Medicine Hat consumption site heats up as overdoses increase

The announcement of the location for a supervised consumption site in Medicine Hat, Alta., has some nearby residents and business owners fearing crime will increase in the area.

The chosen site — 502 South Railway S.E. — is located on the east side of downtown along the railway tracks, near a food bank, soup kitchen and a thrift store in what the group behind the site describes as a "semi-industrial area." There are also homes and a church in nearby blocks.

The site, which will be funded by the province, is set to open later this year.

"Some people are really supportive and understand the need for the service and the community," said Leslie Hill, the executive director of HIV Community Link, the group behind the site.

"We've visited almost every supervised consumption service in Western Canada to understand the differences between them and what's working and what's not working so that we can plan our service accordingly."

It will offer a space for people to use substances with clean supplies under supervision, with medical care nearby if necessary, as well as harm reduction education, addictions counselling, and take home naloxone kits, as well as resources to support people to find housing or detox services.

Gregg Martin owns a funeral home that's located about 60 metres from the proposed facility and is one of a group of concerned locals who oppose the chosen location.

He said there wasn't enough consultation about the site, and pointed to statistics recently released in Calgary that show crime has increased in the area surrounding the city's supervised consumption site.

"It's a fact what's going on in Calgary. We can't have that level of crime in our neighbourhood," he said.

Martin said HIV Community Link said it chose the location because it was in a hotspot of where people are using drugs, but he said the problem is actually one that spreads across the city and said users could also be transported by bus to a different location, perhaps a detox facility.

"I'm not saying not in my backyard. I'm not saying move it three blocks down the street. I'm saying find a place that works and be open and transparent about it. Involve the community," he said.

I don't know if there is a perfect spot.- Police Chief Andy McGrogan

Hill disputed that there wasn't adequate consultation, and said HIV Community Link has been hosting community engagement sessions and needs assessments for two years, and there's no time for further delays.

She said more than 6,000 postcards were mailed out to residents and businesses in the area to inform them about the situation. 

More than 40 meetings were held with government, residents, service providers and businesses, as well as focus groups and Q&A sessions were offered. The agency also surveyed 185 drug users to assess their needs.

As for concerns about crime, Hill said the organization has been working with police from the beginning, something Chief Andy McGrogan confirmed.

McGrogan said he's sympathetic to concerns from nearby residents and business owners, especially those living in condos just a few hundred metres away, and said he's hoping there will be more communication between all parties going forward because he doesn't believe enough was done to allay concerns.

"I don't know if there is a perfect spot," he said.

"But, am I worried about it from a policing perspective? Yes. We are worried about that gathering of people that are addicted, and you know, it's a sad thing for sure, it's not a judgment."

Calls to police increased 29 per cent versus a three-year average in the area around Calgary's consumption site, compared with an increase of four per cent across the rest of the city.

And a needle pick-up service offered by one of the Calgary's harm reduction agencies has said its staff are finding 50 to 80 used needles around the city per day.

But Hill said there's evidence that shows consumption sites are associated with an overall reduction in needle debris and usually show no change in crime levels, plus have a public health benefit.

In Edmonton, a recent Global News report showed that since the city's supervised consumption sites opened, the overall number of needles reported around the city dropped by nearly half.

'A lot of families grieving'

Last year, about 13 Albertans died every week from fentanyl overdoses according to Alberta Health.

In Medicine Hat, 18 people have died of fentanyl overdoses since 2016, the organization said, and the city has the fifth-highest rate of opioid-overdose-related hospitalizations among smaller cities across Canada, according to a study from the Canadian Institute for Health Information.

"The number of people who are dying by overdose in Medicine Hat has increased every year for the last three years … there are a lot of families grieving in Medicine Hat," said Hill.

The site will require a Health Canada exemption to allow it to operate before it opens. HIV Community Link has applied for an exemption both for the Medicine Hat site and for a mobile site in Calgary.

Calgary's only supervised consumption site at the Sheldon Chumir received a renewal of its exemption from Health Canada last week, which will allow it to operate for at least one more year.

• MORE ALBERTA NEWS | Chicken parts spread on neighbour's frozen farmland cause big stink for Alberta vet
• MORE ALBERTA NEWS | Calgary Health Show scrubs appearance by David Stephan
• Read more articles by CBC Calgary, like us on Facebook for updates and subscribe to our CBC Calgary newsletter for the day's news at a glance​