Pubdate: Fri, 30 Dec 2016
Source: Victoria Times-Colonist (CN BC)
Copyright: 2016 Times Colonist
Contact:  http://www.timescolonist.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/481
Author: Cindy E. Harnett
Page: A4

DRUG-USE SITE SEES 84 USERS OVER FIRST WEEK

Island Health clarifies numbers, saying some people have made multiple visits

Island Health says 84 people accounted for more than 200 visits to
Victoria' s first public overdose prevention site in its first week.

On Dec. 12, British Columbia enacted a ministerial order to support the
creation of temporary overdose-prevention sites for drug users - an
emergency response until official supervised consumption sites, with
attached health and social services, are approved by Health Canada.

Victoria has two such sites. One, at 844 Johnson St., is accessible only
to the building's residents, former campers from Victoria's dismantled
tent city.

The other, a bright orange two-door shipping container in the courtyard of
Our Place Society, 919 Pandora Ave., opened Dec. 20 as the first public
site for drug users.

Don Evans, executive director of Our Place Society, said on Wednesday that
268 people had come through the overdose-prevention site.

Island Health clarified on Thursday, saying it had recorded 84 people
coming through the site, some using the room several times, for a total of
more than 200 visits.

The Vancouver Island Health Authority has the highest drug overdose rate
among B.C.'s health regions, with 19.7 deaths per 100,000 people from
January to November - an increase of more than 153 per cent over last
year.

Island Health is planning to open three long-term supervised consumption
sites with related health and social services at Our Place on Pandora
Avenue, at the 844 Johnson St. residence, and at 2920 Bridge St. near the
Rock Bay Landing shelter. The health authority has committed to submitting
applications for two of the three sites - Johnson Street and Pandora
Avenue - to Health Canada by the end of this month.
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