Supervised drug consumption site 'may be a feasible strategy' for Sudbury, study suggests

It's the beginning of a long process towards applying to have a supervised drug consumption site in Greater Sudbury.

The city's medical officer of health, Dr. Penny Sutcliffe, says a feasibility study shows the city would benefit from the site and service — a place where people could inject drugs with sterile supplies while being monitored for signs of overdose.

"It's compassionate, it's human centered, it's been shown through many studies to be effective," Sutcliffe said.

"The other thing that I would emphasize is that this strategy about harm reduction — in the context of supervised consumption services — is one of several pillars or strategies of the Community Drug Strategy. So harm reduction is one, but certainly just as important as focusing on health promotion, on treatment and on enforcement and justice. So this is one piece [that the] citizens in our area currently do not have access to."

The study consisted of a survey of people who inject drugs, community members, focus groups with community partners and stakeholders. It says although there are existing harm-reduction services in Greater Sudbury, harm associated with injection drug use is significant and rising.

"This is actually a very big step and really quite a milestone with the release of this report and ... the input that we've had from community members," Sutcliffe said.

"So the next step is looking for a letter of support from council ... so that we can — in a really consultative manner — figure out where this can be and how it actually could proceed."

She said it's "very important" that drug users continue to stay involved in the process.

"If people who inject drugs are not involved in that, then we can't hope to be successful and meet their important needs."

Sutcliffe said the eventual establishment of a drug consumption site is still months away.

The study noted that, "[In 2018] Sudbury and districts ranked 12th in the province for opioid-related emergency department visits, seventh in the province for confirmed opioid-related deaths, and 10th for hospitalizations, based on rates per 1,000 population.

"The frequency of emergency medical service calls for suspected opioid overdose have more than double in 2019 compared with 2018. Three-quarters of respondents from the survey of people who inject drugs said they had injected drugs in public. More than half had overdosed in their lifetime. From the perspectives of law enforcement and health care providers, drug and substance use creates pressures on social services, police, paramedic, and hospitals. The need for EMS workers and police officers at overdose sites means that they are pulled away from other community needs."

The study also stated there are some concerns about the strategy that need to be addressed.

"Business owners and community members expressed concerns about negative impacts around the area of [a supervised drug consumption site], with effects on perceived neighbourhood safety and desirability, a potential increase in crime and drug use, and more drug dealers targeting the area. Approximately one-third of survey respondents had concerns [the site] could lead to more drug use, more drug selling or trafficking in the area, and more people who use drugs in the area."