Pubdate: Thu, 22 Sep 2016
Source: Vancouver 24hours (CN BC)
Copyright: 2016 Vancouver 24 hrs.
Contact: http://vancouver.24hrs.ca/letters
Website: http://vancouver.24hrs.ca/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3837
Author: Michael Mui
Page: 3

FOUR NEW SUPERVISED INJECTION SITES EYED FOR VANCOUVER

Vancouver Coastal Health has identified two locations where it intends
to place future supervised injection sites, with an additional two
unnamed locations planned, chief medical health officer Patricia Daly
said on Wednesday.

"The applications for the first two sites are going to go in within a
month," Daly told Vancouver city council.

The proposed locations are the new Mental Health and Substance Use
drop-in centre that will open at 528 Powell St., to be operated by the
Lookout Emergency Aid Society, and at the Heatley Community Health
Centre, at 330 Heatley Ave., operated by VCH.

"There are a number of other locations both in and outside the
Downtown Eastside where we intend to submit those applications."

Anna Marie D'Angelo, spokeswoman at VCH, said invitations for
consultation were sent out late last week to stakeholders for the two
proposed locations, with a consultation period in October.

"We're applying to Health Canada at those two sites to get exemptions
from federal drug prosecutions," she said.

"Applications can take months and months to put forward, this is early
stage."

The two locations will not be injection sites like the existing
InSite, D'Angelo said. Instead, they'll focus on clients already using
services.

"A large group of the clients there are intravenous drug users,
long-term intravenous drug users, we do provide primary care for them
- - basic doctor visits - and other harm reduction, such as needle
exchange," she said.

"We're looking at at least two more ... when InSite opens in the
morning there's a lineup outside. We're not meeting the needs of the
client group, especially with the fentanyl crisis."
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MAP posted-by: Matt