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By Scott Roblin

Review Announced

Details of provincial supervised consumption site review released, town hall planned for Medicine Hat

Aug 19, 2019 | 10:55 AM

EDMONTON, AB – The provincial government has laid out the framework for a review of supervised consumption sites in Alberta, which will include public consultation in Medicine Hat.

Associate Minister of Mental Health and Addictions Jason Luan announced on Monday the province had assembled a panel of eight experts to review the social and economic impacts of the sites.

Former Edmonton Chief of Police Rod Knecht will lead the panel as chair, which is also made up of university professors, physicians specialized in addictions treatment, an RCMP officer, a Calgary mother who lost her son to a drug overdose, and a medical lead with Alberta Health Services.

According to the province, the review’s mandate will be to “address social and economic impacts of existing sites on local neighbourhoods, inform decisions around the establishment of future sites and ways to reduce the potential for negative social and economic impacts, and inform a provincial policy that outlines required criteria for provincial funding.”

Topics will include crime rates, needle debris, complaints of social disorder, residential property values, emergency medical services calls, business impacts, referrals to treatment providers, overdose reversals, and proposals for solutions to address impacts of the sites.

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A number of topics won’t be included in the scope of the review such as the merits of supervised consumption sites as harm reduction tools, what provincial funding would be available, or establishing new sites in communities where they have not yet been proposed.

Funding from the province on supervised consumption sites was put on hold earlier this summer following the UCP’s election with the Kenney government promising a review of the program.

HIV Community Link was planning on moving forward on a supervised consumption site in Medicine Hat at 502 South Railway Street SE, however that project has since been left in the air following the province’s decision to freeze funding.

Town halls will be held in September in the communities where supervised consumption sites are either operating or have been proposed including Medicine Hat, Calgary, Edmonton, Lethbridge, Red Deer, and Grande Prairie.

There is no word yet on the specific dates or times of these town hall meetings.

More to follow…