Advocates in Thunder Bay say the Ontario government’s move to close a number of safe consumption sites (SCS) will be detrimental to people living with addictions.
Health Minister Sylvia Jones announced Tuesday the province is banning the sites within 200 metres of schools and child-care centres, meaning 10 locations in the province, including Path 525 in Thunder Bay, must shut down by March 31, 2025.
Path 525, which is operated by NorWest Community Health Centres (NWCHC), is on the city’s south side, around the corner from Ogden Community Public School.
Opened in 2018, the service’s clients can bring in drugs from the street to use in the presence of a registered nurse, who can help them if they overdose.
Do you honestly think a random drug addict on the street makes sure he’s a certain distance from schools before shooting up? I can tell you there’s a school near me where the custodian has to walk the school yard every single morning picking up needles because the addicts sit on the portable steps to inject themselves.
If they had a nearby safe consumption site, even if it was literally across the street, those needles would get disposed of safely instead of being left in the school yard.
SCS aren’t about solving all our drug problems. They’re about making things better for everyone affected.