Overdue shift to compassion from contempt will save lives

Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 09/02/2024 (576 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It’s not a question of if, but when, Manitoba will open its first supervised consumption site for illicit drug use.

A proposal for an Indigenous-led program, supported by a broad section of groups that promote harm-reduction initiatives, could be the first to provide the life-saving service in downtown Winnipeg.

It’s long overdue.

Until recently, the only thing preventing Manitoba from operating supervised consumption sites has been the former Progressive Conservative government’s ideological opposition to them. Despite mountains of data and evidence from all over the world showing the facilities save lives by reducing and reversing overdoses, the Tories refused to support them.

They wouldn’t explain why, except to repeat, ad nauseam, that they preferred to focus on treatment instead, as if there was a choice between the two.

Harm-reduction programs, including supervised consumption sites and the distribution of safer drug supplies (such as needles and syringes, pipes and alcohol swabs), are not either-or propositions. They work in tandem with treatment and other services to prevent harm, including hospitalization and death from overdoses, and to connect people with services in a non-judgmental, compassionate environment.

The Tories ideological opposition to supervised consumption sites literally cost lives.

The provincial position has changed under the NDP. In his mandate letter to Housing, Addictions and Homelessness Minister Bernadette Smith, Premier Wab Kinew has requested the establishment of a facility in downtown Winnipeg.

It appears that’s about to happen. The only question is when.

We learned this week that the Aboriginal Health and Wellness Centre has developed a proposal to create an Indigenous-led safe consumption site downtown. It would be the first in the province.

Sunshine House has been operating a Mobile Overdose Prevention Site using an adapted recreational vehicle. It was granted an illicit drug use exemption from the federal government to do so. However, the new proposal would deliver the first fixed supervised consumption site, with a broader range of services.

“We are carefully considering the proposal from Aboriginal Health and Wellness Centre and community partners as a solution to help our relatives on their journey to recovery,” Smith wrote in an email to the Free Press this week.

The proposed project still faces hurdles. Organizers must secure government funding, find an appropriate space and apply for an illicit drug exemption from Health Canada. Those are not insurmountable obstacles, they just take time.

Related Articles

‘We’re not rushing into this’: province will take its time to get supervised drug consumption site open

Downtown eyed for safe drug consumption site Sunshine House secures funds to keep mobile safe-drug facility on road

North America's oldest legal supervised drug consumption site offers a blueprint for saving lives

Social agencies join forces, lobby province to move on safe consumption site

Public overdoses spark safe consumption site talk

Clinic vending machine ‘stepping stone’ to harm reduction

Prudence, not politics, the right course on safer-supply street drugs

Supervised drug site not on agenda for 2024: premier

Numbers show mobile OD-prevention facility saving, changing lives, Sunshine House says

How much time will depend on the political will of government.

It’s not enough to simply express support for supervised consumption sites, or to include it in a minster’s mandate letter. Cabinet has to make it a priority if it wants results. The minster in charge has to direct the bureaucracy to fast-track the project and find the funding to support it. When that happens, things usually get done pretty quickly.

Supervised consumption sites are not a panacea to the alarming growth in illicit drug use and overdoses. They are one piece of the puzzle that’s needed to fight addictions and to get people the treatment they need.

Mostly, they signal a willingness by government, health providers and society to reduce the stigma surrounding illicit drug use by creating an environment that supports people struggling with addictions, instead of showing them contempt.

They are part of a culture shift that moves away from using pejorative terms like “junkie” and “drunk” when referring to human beings afflicted with an illness, to one of compassion and support.

Dehumanizing and marginalizing people suffering from addictions is a sure-fire way to discourage them from getting help.

Opening a supervised consumption site is just the first step in achieving that culture shift. There are still shortages of safer drug supplies in Manitoba, particularly in rural areas. The province, even under an NDP government, has not given serious consideration (as far as we know) to adopting some form of safer illicit drug supply, as many other jurisdictions have. Government-sanctioned safer supply of illicit drugs, when administered properly, can reduce the consumption of contaminated street drugs that have caused thousands of deaths in Canada in recent years.

Manitoba has also not applied to decriminalize simple possession of illicit drugs (which allows more drug users to ask for help), as other jurisdictions in Canada have.

Failure to take those steps limits the province’s ability to effectively reduce addiction and overdoses.

Still, opening the province’s first supervised consumption site signals a major policy shift by government. It creates a more open and compassionate approach to drug addiction than we’ve seen in Manitoba to date.

tom.brodbeck@freepress.mb.ca

Tom Brodbeck
Columnist

Tom Brodbeck is an award-winning author and columnist with over 30 years experience in print media. He joined the Free Press in 2019. Born and raised in Montreal, Tom graduated from the University of Manitoba in 1993 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics and commerce. Read more about Tom.

Tom provides commentary and analysis on political and related issues at the municipal, provincial and federal level. His columns are built on research and coverage of local events. The Free Press’s editing team reviews Tom’s columns before they are posted online or published in print – part of the Free Press’s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.