Safe drug injection sites are controversial among the public as we’ve seen with the one recently opened in Saskatoon.
So controversial are they that Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe, who has religiously followed advice of his health gurus on the pandemic, merely said he would consider funding them when asked during an election debate.
Safe drug injections are a hot button issue simply because for over 100 years government has legislated drug use as a crime.
In the 1960s and 1970s many governments declared war on drug use. That’s a war that has been lost. Police nab one supply network and two more pop up.
Small wonder that public attitudes towards drug use, substance abuse is the politically correct term, are so hardened like the lock ’em up throw away the key attitude developed after generations of drug use being criminal.
To some people, safe drug injection sites are a sign government has given up on the war against drugs.
To others, these sites are a way to save some addicts’ lives and to steer them to rehabilitation centres and a productive life.
Opponents of safe injection sites wonder why their tax dollars should support drug use or as one says: “Why should I help anybody stupid enough to take drugs?”
Safe injection sites supervise the use and provide immediate care and treatment if an overdose happens. The frequent mixture of deadly fentanyl with illicit drugs has made safe injections sites necessary in some eyes.
Instead of dying alone or being left to die by a fellow user scared of the law, the site offers treatment. The sites allow a trust to build between users and counsellors that can lead to rehab and ending drug use.
The loss of trust in elders and peer pressure leads people to drug use with often bright young people starting use as an experiment.
The legalization of cannabis, aka marijuana, is a step in the same direction as safe injection sites.
The concepts behind regulated cannabis stores are: (a) to develop a safe supply; (b) one product line so store operators will not be enticing customers to try stronger, deadlier drugs; (c) to slow down the growth for illegal drug suppliers; (d) a source of tax revenue for government.
Changing the public mindset against safe injection sites won’t be easy. It will be about as easy as changing all male attitudes to gender equality and freedom from the gropers.
That should explain why the premier sloughs off a question on support for safe injection sites in the face of a rapid increase in overdoses this year of 114 in October from 52 only 10 years ago.
While a Saskatchewan Coroner’s report notes 82 of the deaths have been in Regina and Saskatoon, Moose Jaw has had two, Briercrest had one and many small communities are on the list.
Ron Walter can be reached at [email protected]
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the position of this publication.
