Windsor council greenlights new downtown location for drug consumption and treatment site
This is the 2nd proposed site for the facility, located at 101 Wyandotte St. E.
Windsor city council narrowly approved a proposed location supervised drug consumption and treatment site at 101 Wyandotte St. E.
Council voted 6-5 Monday to approve the new downtown location and the the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit's (WECHU) application to Ontario's Ministry of Health and Health Canada to operate the facility.
In January, Windsor city council narrowly voted to approve a location at 628 Goyeau St., but plans for that site fell through.
The health unit had also consulted the public on the 101 Wyandotte St. E. location, which had been the second option.
Health unit officials said in April they hope to move quickly on opening the new site. Plans have been in the works since 2019 and were delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The steps toward establishing a site where people can use drugs and seek help come amid an escalation in the opioid crisis in recent years.
There were 68 opioid-related deaths in Windsor-Essex in 2020, the most recent year provincial statistics were available.
