Ontario rejects Toronto’s call for supervised drug injection site

[thujone]

Toronto’s board of health voted 6-2 Wednesday to ask the provincial government to open a supervised injection facility for the city’s drug users — a landmark proposal promptly dismissed by the province.

“Given that the federal government’s approval would be a prerequisite, at this point we have no plans to move forward with supervised injection sites,” Samantha Grant, press secretary for Health Minister Deb Matthews said in an email later in the day.

The Conservative federal government is opposed to such facilities aimed at harm reduction, which allow addicts to inject illegal drugs using clean equipment, under the supervision of nurses. Both Police Chief Bill Blair and Mayor Rob Ford are also opposed.

Dr. David McKeown, the city’s chief medical officer, is strongly in favour. The board heard Wednesday — from a unanimous parade of doctors, harm reduction workers, academic experts and drug users themselves — that the facilities prevent deadly overdoses, reduce health-care costs, and help connect addicts with services they need to improve their lives.

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[my3rdeye]

Toronto is the worst for NIMBY type stuff. Not one neighborhood would welcome it. Even though your kids can't play in the park for fear of getting poked. When I lived there they had a needle exchange van because no neighbourhood wants the stigma. Saying no to this is good politics unfortunately. People may be liberal and open to harm reduction, but no one wants to see the addicts in their neighbourhood taking a shit in the alley behind their million dollar home.
Its the same thing every time the city tries to open new homeless shelters or group home or sober living home or half halfway house. Rich versus poor pretty much sums up the sides in that debate. There is no middle of nowhere in Toronto anymore, everything is near development. The addict community has existed there for decades but when gentrification comes they are the always first to go. I remember seeing a punk show in a squat there, with people shooting up and cheap beer and that probably doesn't happen anymore.

 

[ro4eva]

Get out of TO, bloody conservatives.