More than 7,000 people consumed drugs in relative safety at Sunshine House’s mobile overdose prevention site, according to a new report covering a one-year period ending in October 2023.
Among those, there were 20 overdoses (representing 0.28% of visitors) and no deaths.
The harm reduction mobile site, known as MOPS, hit the road on Oct. 28, 2022. The converted RV offers people a safe place to use substances where they can also be supervised by staff trained in overdose response.
The 91-page report, which covers its operation from October 2022 to October 2023, was presented Thursday morning during a news conference at the Circle of Life Thunderbird House on Main Street.
“[MOPS] has had a positive impact on marginalized and vulnerable populations, and has successfully reduced the harms associated with substance use,” the report states. “[It] is successful and is surpassing all expectations.”
In total, from October 2022 to October 2023, there were 26,154 visits to the site, which also distributes harm reduction supplies, including clean needles and pipes. Hundreds of tests were done on drugs using a machine that analyzes chemical makeup.
According to the report, drugs were consumed 7,086 times during that period.
Naloxone — which reverses the effects of opioid drugs and can stop an overdose — was administered on 82 occasions. There were four instances when someone was transported to hospital — at their request each time.
Sunshine House hired a local consulting firm to prepare the report, which is based on data collected at the site, as well as interviews, focus groups and surveys. Researchers spoke with more than 600 people over the course of 10 months for the report.
An overwhelming number of people interviewed spoke about the “profound” impact the site has had on vulnerable individuals, community organizations and Winnipeg’s core neighbourhood, the report states, noting the program’s success extends beyond the numbers of visits.
“Overall, [the site] has … demonstrated the need for this service through the sheer number of visits, relationships and bonds that have been made. This program has saved lives and changed lives, and continues to serve Winnipeg’s vulnerable populations with care and compassion.”
The site was launched in response to the growing toxic drug crisis across Canada. The report says many provinces had responded by providing supervised places for people to use drugs with sterile equipment and supplies in a monitored space, but Manitoba had failed to do so.
Funding for MOPS has largely come from Health Canada and the Winnipeg Foundation.
The RV, which travels around Winnipeg’s core area five days a week, is overseen by a co-ordinator and run by staff and people Sunshine House calls peers — those who have used drugs or currently use them.
“The peers successfully created a warm and welcoming environment, and shaped programs and services to the specific needs of users,” the report says.
Despite its success, the report says, MOPS “is not a solution to the entirety of [the toxic drug] crisis. One mobile overdose prevention site is nowhere near enough to meet the size and scale of the challenge,” it says.
Opioid-related deaths increased nearly fivefold in Manitoba between 2019 and 2021, according to a study released this week that calls for enhanced harm reduction policies throughout the country.
University of Toronto researchers investigated accidental opioid-related deaths in nine Canadian provinces and territories — including all three on the Prairies — with Manitoba seeing the most severe rise in overdose deaths among drug users aged 30 to 39.
The MOPS report advocates for the creation of several supervised consumption sites in Winnipeg.
Manitoba’s NDP government has committed to help fund a safe consumption site in the city, with Premier Wab Kinew saying when the provincial budget was released that such a site is expected to open next year.
Sunshine House is part of a group of organizations hoping to open one in downtown Winnipeg.
The province hasn’t announced yet whether it’s accepted the group’s proposal.