Health Canada exemption needed for supervised consumption but not for overdose prevention sites
By GILLIAN SLADE on February 12, 2019.
gslade@medicinehatnews.com
A supervised consumption site requires an exemption under section 56.1 of the Health Act, according to Health Canada but an overdose prevention site, like the one in Red Deer, does not.
On Health Canada’s website, listing all the applications for an exemption, there is no mention of Red Deer applying and/or receiving one.
“In December 2017, recognizing the need for rapid access to front-line services, Health Canada announced it would give temporary class exemptions to provinces/territories,” a spokesperson for Health Canada confirmed. “These are for overdose prevention sites where evidence shows there is an urgent public health need.”
According to a media report in September 2018, Health Minister Sarah Hoffman announced the overdose prevention site in Red Deer.
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“The federal government has given every province the ability to set up overdose prevention sites,” Hoffman is quoted as saying. “With Red Deer having the highest rate in Alberta, it is an emergency.”
Alberta Health’s website states that Alberta Health Services, the provincial government, the City of Red Deer, Turning Point and Safe Harbour Society are working to help establish a more permanent supervised consumption site with supports.
There is no supervised consumption application for Red Deer showing on Health Canada’s website currently.
Typically, overdose prevention sites are temporary locations. The goals of both overdose prevention and supervised consumption is to “reduce overdose deaths, but overdose prevention sites have been set up temporarily to address the current opioid crisis. They operate with a limited structure,” says Health Canada’s website.
Red Deer’s site does not have “wraparound” services, and clients can inject drugs only, not consume in other ways.
Alberta Health’s second-quarter report on Opioids and Substances of Misuse states there had been 23 deaths in Red Deer due to accidental drug poisoning “related to fentanyl” in 2016, and 24 in 2017. The figure reached 24 in the first half of 2018 alone. This equates to 44.7 deaths per 100,000 person years.
The same report states in Medicine Hat there were two deaths in 2016, seven in 2017 and in the first half of 2018 the number was four. This equates to 11.7 per 100,000 person years.
The lowest in the province was Fort McMurray at 10.1.
The numbers in the same report for “other than-fentanyl” related deaths were as follows for Red Deer: 12 in 2016, seven in 2017 and one in the first half of 2018. In Medicine Hat there were four in 2016, two in 2017 and none in the first half of 2018.
HIV Community Link’s application for Medicine Hat’s supervised consumption site was submitted June 25, 2018. Three of the five stages are shown as complete on Health Canada’s website.
Each site is considered on a case-by-case basis, on its own merits, the website states.
Exemptions are generally granted for one initial year. The length of time for renewal applications varies depending on the site’s compliance history.
https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/substance-use/supervised-consumption-sites/status-application.html
A local group has arranged a community meeting about the site for Medicine Hat. This will take place on Wednesday evening at 7 p.m. in the Murano Room at the Beveridge Landmark Events on Second Street SE. The public is welcome to attend.
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