Government outlines drug response, with more to be done
LETHBRIDGE – The province admitted there’s more work to be done to deal with an unprecedented drug crisis, as it outlined the steps it has taken so far.
At a news conference Friday, June 15, MLA Shannon Phillips noted the government has approved $2.6 million in funding for additional consumption booths and one more inhalation room at the supervised consumption site. ARCHES confirmed it currently has ten booths in service, including four that were installed on an emergency basis in May. Six more are being built over the next few weeks, and the four emergency booths from May could be taken out of service then, or left in place.
Phillips also mentioned the eight detox beds at Chinook Regional Hospital, a $1.9 million project first announced in 2017.
The remaining three points of the plan are $80,000 to expand the needle collection program, funding for education, and to work with the City of Lethbridge on frontline supports.