As promised Red Deer City Council is moving ahead exploring the option of a mobile unit for Supervised Consumption Services.

Administration was directed yesterday (Jan 22nd) to prepare any bylaw amendments that would be needed to accommodate a mobile unit, should an application be made.

Stacey Carmichael, Turning Point’s Executive Director, says they have no interest in operating a mobile supervised consumption service.

“Turning Point wants to operate a supervised consumption service that we need in this community, not a supervised consumption service that our municipality feels like might be the best option.  It’s contradictory to what our research says and what the people in our community say.  We’re not prepared to operate something just because, it needs to be meaningful and it needs to be set up in a way that’s going to have good outcomes.  We don’t believe that a mobile site is that option”.

Carmichael says a mobile site is not practical for a number of reasons.

“In Red Deer the people who we surveyed, our community partners, everyone talked about how important it is to have access to wrap around services, a place for people to go and to be welcomed, a mobile site wouldn’t allow for that option.  We’re in an existing location that people come to already and so adding another different site is just creating another place where these folks are going to have to walk to everyday if they are experiencing homelessness”.

She says not to mention Red Deer experiences cold winters with temperatures reaching minus 40 which makes a mobile unit infeasible, and they have a number of people not only injecting drugs but smoking drugs and taking them orally who are overdosing and a mobile site wouldn't accommodate those folks.

Turning Point had hoped to open a downtown site, but last month City Council only approved the Red Deer Regional Hospital as a potential site for supervised consumption services, and introduced plans to explore the mobile option.

Carmichael says it's unfortunate their Society and the City are at such different ends of the spectrum as lives continue to be lost.

“We have you know 1.8 people dying every day in Alberta.  So far this month we have had 3 fatalities that we are aware of at Turning Point.  This is something we really want to get moving on and when the time comes hopefully a location is the only thing that trips us up”.

 

https://lacombeonline.com/local/red-deer-hospital-chosen-as-potential-safe-injection-site

https://lacombeonline.com/local/health-clinics-out-as-council-mulls-drug-consumption-sites

https://lacombeonline.com/local/six-possible-spots-for-supervised-consumption-services-in-red-deer

https://lacombeonline.com/local/council-position-on-supervised-consumption-not-required-according-to-letter-from-province