Guest Column: Community Link committed to maximizing benefits of safe consumption site in Medicine Hat

By Letter to the Editor on August 20, 2018.

There has been a lot of media attention recently regarding supervised consumption services (SCS). While they are controversial, it is important to recognize that SCS save lives and have significant benefits for the individual and the surrounding community.

In Alberta, 733 people died from an accidental opioid poisoning in 2017. On average, two people die every day from this unprecedented crisis, and it does not discriminate. There are people in every community, of every demographic who are at risk of death. The rate of hospitalizations related to opioid poisoning in the south zone is the highest in Alberta with 419 hospital stays at the Medicine Hat Regional Hospital.

HIV Community Link (HIVCL) has been delivering harm reduction-based services in Medicine Hat for 10 years, supporting people who use substances to improve their health and well-being. Harm reduction is an evidence-based public health approach. We do not endorse drug use — we do, however, acknowledge that it exists in our community and provide practical skills, knowledge, tools and resources to minimize the impacts.

Last year, in response to the escalation in the opioid crisis, the Medicine Hat Coalition on Supervised Consumption (MHCSC) was formed with community stakeholders including Alberta Health Services, the Medicine Hat Police Service, the City of Medicine Hat and other community-based organizations. The MHCSC assessed the need for and guides the development of these essential services to address the growing opioid crisis. Through a research project, the MHCSC looked at the Medicine Hat data available, including drug-related crime, emergency responses to overdoses, emergency room visits and hospitalizations and overdose death. One hundred eighty-five people with a history of drug use in Medicine Hat were also interviewed, with 83 per cent of them indicating a need for SCS. Eighty per cent asked for support to access treatment programs and 85 per cent want help with their health concerns. Every datapoint analyzed indicated that this is an escalating issue in Medicine Hat. As such, a recommendation was made by the MHCSC to implement a service in the downtown or North Railway areas. This report is available at medicinehatscs.com.

Subsequently, HIVCL has been engaging with the community through meetings with business owners, government officials and residents in the downtown area through public engagement sessions. In consultation with the MHCSC, HIVCL has designed a community hub model that is tailored to reduce incidence of public drug use, publicly discarded drug equipment, and public disorder. With wraparound services offered in collaboration with community partners, we will increase access to substance use services, housing, and other vital programs within our community. The service will also reduce the burden on emergency services like EMS, police, the fire department and hospitals, Finally, SCS are demonstrated to decrease incidence of sharing drug equipment, reducing risk for HIV and hepatitis C transmission and saving taxpayer money.

Although a location for offering supervised consumption services has not been chosen yet, HIVCL wants to reassure Medicine Hat that we are committed to addressing any concerns and maximizing the benefits of SCS for the community. We are closely watching developments in other cities to inform the best approach to providing services. One of the measures that we have already introduced is a weekly needle debris clean-up outreach team.

Supervised consumption services offer a safe space to build trusting relationships between service providers and people who use drugs. As a result, clients have more opportunities to engage in other health and social services. Using harmful language (“addicts,” “druggies,” “criminals”) doesn’t resolve the issue that the community is facing. An informed opinion, promoting human rights and treating every person with the dignity they deserve will help the response to the opioid crisis.

(Corey Ranger is Clinical Lead, Medicine Hat HIV Community Link)

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