Toronto’s top doctor calls for 3 safe-injection sites in city

published on March 14, 2016 by Will Campbell, in Global News

Toronto’s top doctor is calling for the opening of three safe-injection sites at existing health facilities downtown, a move which would follow Vancouver and join the list of cities around the globe giving addicts a safe place to do drugs.

“Research shows that supervised injection services save lives, reduce drug overdoses and limit the spread of blood-borne diseases,” Medical Officer of Health Dr. David McKeown said Monday.

He noted the city is facing a record number of fatal overdoses — 206 in 2013 — that have jumped in the last decade.

McKeown is recommending councillors on the city board of health give the green light to setting up community consultations and strategizing on how the “small scale” sites would work, with the results going into a report due in July.

The safe-injection sites would be located inside existing facilities along a roughly 7-kilometre stretch of downtown: the Central Toronto Community Health Centre at Queen and Bathurst streets, the public health office at Victoria and Dundas and the South Riverdale Community Centre.

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© Copyright BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS
St. Paul's Hospital 608–1081 Burrard Street, Vancouver, BC, Canada V6Z 1Y6
Tel: 604-806-8477 | Fax: 604-806-9044
General inquiries: info@bccfe.ca
Media inquiries: communications@bccfe.ca
(Please do not use any of these email addresses to send personal information or book an appointment. To book appointments or contact the H2H clinic, please call 604-416-1517 or fax: 604-564-4893. Do not send your or your client's personal information via email.)

Our work serves clients and communities across British Columbia on lands and waters cared for and nurtured by the many distinct First Nations across the province. The BC-CfE humbly and gratefully acknowledge the stewards of these lands, particularly the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səl̓ílwətaʔ (Tsleil-Waututh) on whose unceded, traditional and ancestral territories our offices are located.