Saskatchewan needs to act on the federal government’s easing of restrictions for supervised safe injection sites.
The province does not yet have a safe injection site, although the Saskatoon Tribal Council stated last year that it wanted to explore the idea.
The province continues to be cold to the idea. Health Minister Jim Reiter reiterated former minister Dustin Duncan’s belief that the province is not considering safe injection sites.
In a province with an HIV infection rate that has led Canada since 2010 and where intravenous drug use is described as an “epidemic” in centres such as Saskatoon, Regina, and Prince Albert, it’s time to heed the sensible call by Saskatoon Tribal Council (STC) Chief Felix Thomas to investigate the value of establishing a safe injection site.
“We are not enabling (drug use). We are saying if they are going to do it, they are doing it in a place that is safe,” Thomas told StarPhoenix reporter Charles Hamilton.
“… The science behind this is what we are really looking at. It’s not cultural or spiritual or religious. It’s what’s the best thing for society.”
The old Conservative law includes onerous, redundant and costly requirements, along with a dozen conditions that include seeking consent from a broad range of interest groups, any one of which could be used as an excuse to deny establishing a new site or renewing Insite’s license.