Ontario has banned supervised drug consumption sites within 200 metres of schools and child-care centres.
Ten facilities across the province will be forced to transition into “new treatment hubs” that do not offer “safer” supply supervised drug consumption or needle exchange programs. If they do not, they will close.
Health Minister Sylvia Jones announced the decision Tuesday afternoon when she addressed the Association of Municipalities of Ontario conference in Ottawa.
Of the 10 sites that will have be affected by the new rules, five are in Toronto while one each are in Ottawa, Kitchener, Thunder Bay, Hamilton and Guelph.
Supervised consumption sites allow people to inject, snort or otherwise take drugs under supervision to reduce the risk of overdose.
Jones said the province is investing $378 million in 19 of the new Homelessness and Addiction Recovery Treatment (HART) Hubs. If the old consumption sites choose to apply to become a HART Hub, the province said they will be “prioritized.”
Opposition parties react
In a statement, Ontario Liberal Leader Bonnie Crombie agreed that “these sites should not be next to schools,” while calling for “smart, compassionate solutions” to the addiction and mental health crisis.
“Doug Ford is taking away more services,” she said. “He needs to be clear on how they will maintain the capacity required to provide treatment to those who need it.”
The Ontario NDP released a statement faulting the provincial government for taking away “critical public health supports from communities amidst an ongoing homelessness and addictions crisis.”
“Doug Ford has made the callous decision to take away a vital tool that saves lives,” said Windsor West MPP Lisa Gretzky, the party’s critic for mental health and addictions.
Nurses’ association calls move ‘a disaster’
Justin Piché, an associate professor of criminology at the University of Ottawa, welcomed expanded access to treatment, but he called the consumption site closures a short-sighted decision.
“Drug toxicity deaths will increase, and that’s the bottom line,” he said. “The province is making a big mistake that is going to cost people their lives.”
The Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario also criticized the closures, which its CEO warned would result in more overdoses and more discarded needles in the street, while also spreading infectious diseases.
“This is actually a death sentence for people that use substances,” said Doris Grinspun. “It’s a disaster.”