Sask. residents split on province funding safe consumption sites, survey suggests

A survey from the University of Saskatchewan found that while nearly four in five respondents believe drug addiction is a health issue, fewerthan halfof respondents saytheprovincial government should have fundedthe province's first supervisedconsumption site.

Advocates saythe stigmaaround substance use is hinderingprogress.

In March, the provincial government denied Prairie Harm Reduction's request for $1.3 million in funding for itssupervised consumption site in Saskatoon, which provides safe supplies and medical attention to people while they use drugs.

It's the only active facility in the country with a safe inhalation space, according to the organization's executive director, Jason Mercredi.

The survey of 400 Saskatchewan residents was commissioned by CBCand done by the U of S's Canadian hub for applied and social research.

A large majority (78.6 per cent) of those surveyed said yes when asked if drug addiction is a health issue, compared with 15.9 per cent who said no.

One in four people surveyed (25 per cent) had been, or knew someone who had been, affected by opioid addiction. That portion increased to 35 per cent in respondents from rural populations.

About 30 per cent of all survey respondents urban and rural said supervised consumption sites were somewhat effective at reducing harm associated with drug use. The next most common answerat about 20 per centwas that they were very ineffective.

People from urban areas and middle-aged people were more likely to believe the sites were effective, while about 81 per cent of young, rural respondents believe thesites are ineffective and agreed with the province's decision not to fund Prairie Harm Reduction's site.

The number of overdose deaths in Canadahas been called a second epidemic accompanying the COVID-19 pandemic.

There were about 6,200 apparent opioid overdose deaths in the country last yearabout 17 each day. A study from the University of Waterloo found there was a 592 per cent increase in the number of opioid deaths from 2000 to 2017.

Last year, there were 67 confirmed overdose deaths in Saskatoonand 118 in Regina, according to the Saskatchewan Coroners Service, which said 2020 was the deadliest year for drug overdoses.

"It shouldn't be up for debate whether people live or die. Period. This is a health-care issue. We need to address it through a health-care lens," Mercredi said.

While Prairie Harm Reduction does get funding from the provincial government about $305,000 is allotted for the 2021-22 year that moneyis for its other programming. The supervised consumption site ispaid for via fundraising.

In the survey, 43.2 per cent of people said the province should have funded the site, while 38.7 per cent said the provincewas right not to do so. Another 14.6 per cent said they didn't know and 3.5 per cent refused to answer.

Mercredi blames thelack of funding on the government's stigmatization of substance users.He said he'seven more frustrated about the funding because the Saskatchewan government's own documentsoutlinethe benefits of thesite.

In partially redacted documents released to The Canadian Pressunder freedom-of-information legislation, the provincial government says they are effective and evidence suggests a site won't negatively impact public safety in a community.

Mercredi said 724 people used the supervisedconsumption site between October, when it opened, andMarch 31. While some overdosed, none died, he said.

Dead people can't recover.- Cheryl Deschene

Cheryl Deschene's son, Jordan, died from an overdose in 2015. Now, Deschene advocates for systemic changes and tries to address the stigma around addiction.

Deschene said supervisedconsumption sites offer a safe place for users, keep drug use away from public spaces, provide help if users ask for it and, most importantly, keep people alive.

"Dead people can't recover," she said.

Deschene understands why others are apprehensive about supervisedconsumption sites she once felt the same way. She compares such sites to bars, saying alcoholism doesn't carry the same stigma as other substances.

"I can go to the liquor board and buy safe liquor, that I know will not kill me unless I drink to the extreme, and I have a safe place to consume it [like a bar] if I so choose. Drugs are the same thing," she said.

More than half of survey respondents (68.4per cent) said having people who inject drugs in your neighbourhood makes it either very or somewhat unsafe.

Gabriela Novotna, an associate professor in the faculty of social work at University of Regina, said that belief was supported by a nearly 200-page review of supervised consumption sites from the Alberta Ministry of Health in 2020.

But Novotna said the evaluation was criticized by researchers for its weak methodology. She said research suggests there's no correlation between consumption sites and increased criminality in a community.

"I do understand that people do feel unsafe when they witness drug consumption in public," she said.

"That's actually what I think those supervised drug consumption facilities address: that they provide space for people who consume drugs and have difficulties [engaging] in other recovery-based activities."

When asked if a supervisedinjection site may make the community unsafe, or if it would promote substance use, Mercredi's tone changed. The purpose of the site is to keep those who use it from dying, he said.

"The crime rates haven't gone up around our building;the internal documents from the Ministry of Health show that we're not having an adverse effect on the community. Soif the facts show that, what [do] opinions matter?" said Mercredi.

Data for the survey was collected bysurveying 400 respondents by telephone from June 1 to 9. Themargin of error is plus or minus 4.9 per cent, 19 times out of 20.