Pubdate: Thu, 02 Feb 2017
Source: Now, The (Surrey, CN BC)
Copyright: 2017 Canwest Publishing Inc.
Contact:  http://www.thenownewspaper.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1462
Author: Amy Reid

INJECTION SITES MAY OPEN IN SPRING

WHALLEY -Fraser Health Authority hopes to have the two proposed Surrey
injection sites open this spring.

One site is proposed at the 94A Street Quibble Creek Sobering Centre,
and another on 135A Street in partnership with Lookout Emergency Aid
Society.

Both would require Section 56 exemptions to allow them to operate.
Fraser Health submitted a partial application for the sites on Dec.
30, according to a report to Surrey's Public Safety Committee.

The report reveals the health authority has signed a formal letter of
intent with Britco, allowing them to produce drawings of a trailer
that would house supervised consumption services.

The date for that installation is set for April 18, according to the
report, but is contingent on the acceptance of the Health Canada exemption.

Information sessions are set for Friday, Feb. 3 (from 7 to 9 p.m.) and
Saturday, Feb. 4 (from noon to 2 p.m.) at SFU's Surrey campus, located
at #250-13450 102nd Ave., in classroom 2740, for individuals and
establishments who reside within 500 metres of the proposed sites.

To confirm attendance to one of the info sessions, RSVP at
Surveymonkey.com/r/fh-scs-register. Feedback can also be submitted
online at Fraserhealth.ca/supervisedconsumption.

Medical Health Officer Dr. Shovita Padhi told Surrey's public safety
committee on Monday that drug overdoses - and deaths - are still high.

"November was by far our worst month in terms of overdose deaths,
that's when we saw the highest peak," she said.

"Then in December we saw a tapering, we continue to taper right
now."

But it's not just the street entrenched who need help. Padhi said 70
per cent of the deaths that occurred in the region took place in
private residences.

"We need to do a more in-depth analysis," she told the committee.
"Were they interacting with the health care system? Were they taking
substitute therapies? Were they males in the resources sector who had
injuries, and that led them down path of addiction?

"That is our next phase. We still need to address the individuals who
are entrenched and homeless, that is a different population, but for
us to really address this crisis and this epidemic... we need to delve
deeper into who these individuals are and target out programs
effectively," she said, and find out "who these individuals were first."

"My inclination is that they were slightly different from the
population we're dealing with on 135A."
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MAP posted-by: Matt