Provincial review of SCS splits opinions in community

For Kym Porter, who lost her son Neil to an overdose, she says the panel is missing a major part.

“There’s no one that works in harm reduction on that panel. There’s no one who works on at a supervised consumption site on that panel. I’m concerned about that.” She said.

Porter’s fellow advocate and friend Dana Dmytro agrees with her.

“They said that the evidence is already there to support harm reduction so we won’t include those experts on the panel.” She continued. “But I would say that when they are having their discussions and reviewing their information, in order to not be biased, they need those experts on the panel to be able to give their perspective based on the new evidence.”

The panel will not be looking at the harm reduction aspect. Instead, they will look at things like crime statics and impact on property values.

For Cypress – Medicine Hat MLA Drew Barnes, he says that even without the harm reduction aspect, it will still be a fair panel.

Something he says the NDP didn’t give the Gas City when they first chose Medicine Hat as a supervised consumption site.

“I mean I look at the NDP government when they first started putting the harm reduction supervised consumption injection sites in Medicine Hat. They didn’t ask us if it was the best for our community. They didn’t ask if they wanted it. And they didn’t ask us where to put it.” Barnes said.

Instead, Barnes says the government should focus on long term care for people battling addiction.

“I think the best option is the funds directed towards meaningful counseling. Street counseling, trauma counseling. And the proper length of time for detox and counseling beds.” Barnes explained. “Unfortunately I keep hearing that it’s hard to get in if you’re on a waiting list it’s too easy to fall back to your old habits. And secondly, if you do get in only 30 or 45 days isn’t long enough. We need something closer to a year.”

For Porter, she says that a supervised consumption site can be a key step in the process.

“Rehab is an important part of the journey, however not everybody’s at that place in their recovery journey. And so we continually say dead people don’t recover. We need to do what we can to help keep people alive.” She said.

According to Alberta Health, over 3,500 overdose sites were reversed in Alberta at a supervised site between January 2018 and March 2019.

Both her and Dmytro understand concerns people may have about a consumption site in their town.

For Dmytro who lost her brother to addiction, she says families dealing with their loved ones face the same concerns every day.

“We didn’t just have that in our backyard we had it in our homes daily. And in our hearts daily and constantly. So we do empathize with what it’s like to have those issues around all the time and not being able to get away. Or feeling unsafe or unsettled.” She continued. “I empathize with their concerns and I feel that we can come together as a community to try and mitigate those concerns but I definitely feel that the best approach is one of compassion and acceptance because if they continue to feel fearful and hatred, it’s just going to create even more division among the community members.”

As part of the panel’s review, they will be hosting town halls before making their recommendations at the end of the year.

It is expected they will visit Medicine Hat in September.

by Hayley Ferguson

Provincial review of SCS splits opinions in community

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