UCP Leader Jason Kenney draws fire for saying safe consumption sites help addicts 'inject poison'

UCP Leader Jason Kenney is drawing fire for saying he doesn't believe drug safeconsumption and injection sites workand wouldn't expand the programs across Alberta if elected premier.

Kenneyinitially made the statements in an article published in the Lethbridge Herald on Thursday.After being blasted by criticism, thehead of the United Conservative Partyposted a statement on Facebook doubling down on his position.

"We absolutely need to show compassion for those suffering with addiction, and we need to help them get off drugs. But helping addicts inject poison into their bodies is not a long-term solution to the problem,"Kenneywrote.

Kenneycalled for the federal government to crack down on the flow of foreign-produced synthetic drugs into Canada, and criticized the governing AlbertaNDPfor spending money on the safe consumption sites.

"In the news today, we learn that the AlbertaNDPis funding a project to provide addicts with taxpayer-funded drugs to inject themselves with,"Kenneywrote, referring to plans to open new opioid treatment centres in Edmonton and Calgary.

"That's right, our current government will be providing drug addicts with prescription grade drugs."

After the Lethbridge Herald story was published, Lethbridge-West MLA Shannon Phillipssharply rebuked Kenneyon Twitter.

Kenney thinks "he knows better than the Lethbridge chief of police, the Lethbridge fire chief, our mayor, EMS, and everyone who has ever served people with opioid addictions," wrotePhillips, who is environment minister under Alberta'sNDPgovernment.

"The lives of my constituents in [Lethbridge]are more important than your ideology."

Alberta's NDP caucus also sent out a release, saying Kenney's view is in opposition of his own party's MLAs.

Mike Ellis, Brian Jean and Rick Fraser (now with the Alberta Party) have all said in the past that they don't oppose the sites, stated the release.

Edmonton radio show host Ryan Jespersontweeted that his brother works at a safe consumption site in Vancouver, and offered an open invitation to the MLA to debate the issue on his show.

A Calgary doctorwho works for a local non-profit that supports people struggling with povertysaid Kenney's comments were harmful.

"I think that the parallel is, you know, what happened in Florida and reacting by saying that the solution to that is to give teachers guns. That's exactly the rhetoric that Jason Kenney is applying. And it's simply to polarize and politicize anissue that, like what happened in Florida, is at the heart of our humanity," said Dr. Bonnie Larson at a press conference Friday in Calgary announcing new opioid treatment centres.

"It's exploiting people's pain, and I hope and pray that predictions that he will lead in any way, shape or form, any of us in our democratic country are going to be wrong."

Lethbridge police and EMS have been struggling to keep up with dozens of overdose calls in recent days.

The southern Alberta city's first safe consumption site opened on Wednesday, and there are similar sites in Calgary and Edmonton.

• Spate of drug overdoses continues in Lethbridge

There were 562 fentanyl overdose deaths in Alberta in 2017, according to the provincial government.

In the first two monthsthat Calgary's temporary consumption site was open, before a permanent facility opened its doors in January, there were2,500 visits by more than 300 individual clients.

An estimated 55 overdoses were prevented.

• Calgary's 1st permanent, supervised consumption site opens

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