'We haven't ruled that out': Province discusses safe-injection site after video of needles in Regina bathroom

Saskatchewan's Health Minister Jim Reiter said he would consider bringing a safe-injection site to the province if a proposal is made. 

He was asked about the possibility on Monday in response to a viral video showing dozens of used needles spilled across the floor and counter of a bathroom at a McDonald's in Regina.

The video, which had been viewed more than 400,000 times as of Tuesday morning, sparked more than a thousand concerned comments.

Reiter said he watched the video, and called it "troubling." He didn't commit to taking any specific action, although he he praised Insite in Vancouver, a safe-injection site which he said has "been successful."

"We haven't ruled that out. You know, we would certainly consider it, but we're in a situation right now where obviously there is valuable health care dollars. We want to get the most benefit we can for addictions and mental health treatment," Reiter said.

"We're going to rely on experts. You know, experts in Saskatchewan have said that you need to weigh what's the most appropriate thing for the province."

If decided on, a safe injection site would need to be approved on a federal level. 

The Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) held a press conference to address concerns about the video on Monday, calling the mess an act of vandalism, since the locked and metal-encased needle disposal unit would have to have been pried off the wall. 

The video was apparently shot early Sunday morning at the McDonald's on Dewdney Avenue and Albert Street.

More needles found in area

Jan Morier is a patroller and board member with White Pony Lodge. She said the patrol group found 28 used needles discarded in an alleyway the night before the video was shot.

"It's being blown out of proportion because of the shocking nature of it," said Morier, who has been with White Pony Lodge for two years. "We have gone to what are imagined to be shooting galleries and found 30 to 40 needles in one location. So it's not totally unusual."

Morier says the McDonald's is often a pit stop for the patrol, especially during the winter. She said the needle bins at McDonald's are beneficial to the general safety of the neighbourhood.

She said a safe injection site could be beneficial to the neighbourhood and city.

"I really feel a safe injection site for the addicts safety is paramount in conjunction with other treatment facilities," she said.

Would people use a safe-injection site?

Kathy Lloyd, manager for communicable disease with the SHA, said more study would need to be done to determine whether a safe-injection site would benefit Regina. 

Lloyd said the drug-using community in Regina is quite different from other cities where safe injection sites have been set up. Specifically, people using drugs in Regina are more socially connected and often have a place to use.

"At this point in time I think it's unknown if people would go to safe injection sites. It's something that would have be looked into more closely with people that use injection drugs to find out if that's something they would want," said Lloyd.

 Lloyd said there's no indication that the used needles in the viral video were used to inject hard drugs.

"I'm sincerely hoping that this isn't going to be tied in directly to people that use injection drugs because there's nothing to say that's where those needles came from," she said.

"In a restaurant there definitely will be needles in containers that are used by diabetics, because lots of people need insulin when they're eating." 

'Good educational incident': SHA

Ian Harrison, acting manager of environmental health with SHA, said the video could be a teaching moment but ultimately the response might have been overblown.

"It's social media, it is what it is right now and obviously when incidents like this happen it's going to get blown up," said Harrison.

"It's probably a good educational incident to work on to get the message out there about safe handling of needles."

In a statement McDonald's Corporate Relations said it is taking the video very seriously.

"This is an unfortunate, yet isolated incident. It was quickly cleaned up adhering to the restaurant's safe and proper process for handling needles. The restaurant has been in contact with the police, and the Saskatchewan Health Department visited the restaurant today [Monday] and reported that they are satisfied with how the incident was handled and will not be investigating further."