Maple Avenue location dropped as possibility for supervised consumption

By Gillian Slade on September 27, 2018.

gslade@medicinehatnews.com  @MHNGillianSlade

One possible location for the supervised consumption site in Medicine Hat, 140 Maple Ave., is no longer in the cards, says one of the owners of the building.

“The two of us that own the building are both business people … and we got so much push-back from the neighbourhood and our own tenants in the building,” said one of the owners, who agrees a site might be necessary but not in that building.

It would have been a lucrative business deal but too many people in the community were against it, they said, making the final decision after calls to other areas where sites are located.

A different location has not been established yet and that means plans to be open and operating by the end of the year are looking increasingly unlikely, says HIV Community Link, the organization that has received funding from Alberta Health for the project.

“I think that would be a challenging target at this point but we’re still committed to getting this service up and running as quickly as we can in the community,” said executive director Leslie Hill.

Prior to opening a safe consumption, an exemption permit must be secured from Health Canada to allow the consumption of illegal substances on site. One of the final steps in the application process for that exemption is a location and an inspection of that site.

“We are still working to identify the right space, and at this point, a location hasn’t been determined and once it is then we will move forward,” said Hill.

After the site is selected, some renovations will be required to customize the space for its purpose, he said.

HIV Community Link already operates a needle exchange program in Medicine Hat on Second Street across from the Provincial Building. This service will close once the safe consumption site is open but in the meantime it is temporarily moving to 641 Fourth St. SE (corner of Fourth and S. Railway), because the premises on Second Street have been sold.

The physical move takes place on Friday with services available again on Oct. 1.

Hill says there is no intention of operating the site at the Fourth Street location.

“We still haven’t identified a location. We’ve looked at a number of venues. We’ve looked at a number of buildings in the community to find the right space,” said Hill. “We are taking into account the feedback that we’ve received over the summer, from the community and area, and are working to find a suitable location.”

14
-13

Comments are closed.