A new consultant’s report in Manitoba that evaluated the use of a mobile supervised consumption site in Winnipeg for drug users has found it saves lives and delivers vital services to people struggling with addictions.
This comes as no surprise to experts in the field who have long advocated for a permanent supervised consumption site in Manitoba.
The 91-page report, written by Winnipeg firm LAHRK Consulting and released Thursday, says there were 26,000 visits to the Sunshine House Mobile Overdose Prevention Site — a converted RV that moves around the city — from November 2022 to October 2023.
MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS
The 91-page document prepared by LAHRK Consulting covers the first year of MOPS’ operations.
About a quarter of those visits involved people using drugs under supervision. Others used the service to have their drugs tested to ensure they were safe (some street drugs are laced with toxic substances), while some accessed harm-reduction supplies, including clean pipes and needles. People also visited to get information about addiction-treatment programs and other services.
There were 20 overdoses during that time and no deaths.
So why has Premier Wab Kinew’s government still not announced the opening of a permanent site to expand those services? That remains unclear.
The NDP promised voters during last year’s provincial election that it would establish a permanent site for drug users, the kind that is saving lives in many parts of Canada. Since forming government in October, the NDP has reiterated that promise and budgeted money to fund a permanent facility in downtown Winnipeg. But there is still no timeline as to when one may open.
The province says it’s still studying the issue and is considering options. That’s fine. But time is of the essence here. There were 445 suspected drug overdose deaths in Manitoba in 2023 and the numbers are climbing.
This is a crisis, and it’s time for government to act.
Supervised consumption sites are not a panacea. They will not solve the growing drug addiction problem society is facing. But what they can do is save lives. The research on that from all over the world is overwhelming. People who use drugs at supervised consumption sites don’t die. Period. If they overdose while there, trained staff intervene.
Insite, North America’s first legal supervised consumption site in Vancouver, opened its doors in 2003 and has not had a single death. The site has also helped connect drug users to treatment programs they may not have otherwise had access to.
It’s understandable the Kinew government wants to get this right. Establishing a site should be done properly and should be based on the specific needs of this province. But it isn’t necessary to re-invent the wheel here. Winnipeg already has experience with a mobile unit and the benefits of a permanent site are crystal-clear.
Politically, this is a no-brainer for the NDP. There appears to be broad support in Manitoba for supervised consumption sites. There is some opposition to them, including from the Opposition Tories. But it’s largely among a minority of those who have bought into the falsehoods that the sites encourage drug use or that they drive up crime rates in the immediate area, neither of which are true.
The onus is now on the government to establish a timeline. It’s time to put words into action. The longer this gets delayed, the more people will die unnecessarily. It’s really that simple.
While they’re at it, it’s time for provincial officials to start releasing up-to-date overdose death data, as other provinces do. Manitoba is the only province that doesn’t do that in a timely fashion. It’s important that society is aware of how serious the problem is. Releasing current, reliable information is a critical piece to ensure this crisis gets the attention it deserves.
Addictions Minister Bernadette Smith says the province is committed to releasing timely data and that government is working on it. That’s not good enough. This should be done immediately. There are no legitimate reasons for the delay.
Supervised consumption sites are a humane and effective response to a complex and serious problem. They work all over the world. It’s time to move forward on this in an expedited fashion.
tom.brodbeck@freepress.mb.ca
Tom Brodbeck
Columnist
Tom has been covering Manitoba politics since the early 1990s and joined the Winnipeg Free Press news team in 2019.