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TheConversationCanada
Supervised inhalation is a necessary intervention in the drug poisoning crisis
By Become an author,
12 days ago
All safe consumption sites should receive government funding for supervised inhalation. This way, the growing number of people who inhale substances will be closer to the help they need in case of drug poisoning. They’ll also have access to detox, treatment and other health care and social resources.
Canada is experiencing a toxic drug poisoning crisis, exacerbated by simultaneous mental health and housing crises. Numbers of fatal drug poisonings have increased dramatically since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Safe consumption sites are a life-saving intervention in this crisis. They provide a safe space for people to use their pre-obtained substances in the presence of staff trained to respond to drug poisonings. They are hubs for people to access health care and housing supports, and they help reduce the spread of viral infections like HIV and hepatitis C by providing sterile equipment for drug use, safer sex supplies and educational resources.
In all Canadian safe consumption sites, people can inject, snort and orally consume substances. For years, inhaling substances has been promoted by harm-reduction advocates to help curb the spread of viruses like HIV and hepatitis C. However, few safe consumption sites offer indoor supervised inhalation services, even though the federal exemption through Health Canada allows for it.
But women are far more likely to smoke than inject substances. Unfortunately, most safe consumption sites across Canada are not responsive to their needs at this time.
One safe consumption site in Ontario, Casey House, accommodates indoor supervised inhalation. But it has not received a consumption and treatment service designation, and therefore must fund itself through grants and private donations. The safe consumption site I work at is in the same boat.
At a time when we’re dealing with housing, mental health and toxic drug crises, we must adapt evidence-based interventions like safe consumption sites to suit the needs of the people they support. People who use drugs have been telling us they need safe inhalation spaces for a long time. It’s time we listened and took action.
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