Canada eases steps to open supervised drug injection sites amid opioid crisis
New legislation streamlines the more than two dozen requirements previously needed to launch facilities, which offer supervision and sterile equipment
The Guardian (UK)
Sunday, May 21, 2017
Sunday, May 21, 2017
Canada’s government has made it easier to open supervised drug injection sites across the country, offering communities a lifeline as they battle an opioid crisis that has claimed thousands of lives in recent years. New legislation passed this week streamlines the more than two dozen requirements previously needed to launch these facilities, which offer a medically supervised space and sterile equipment for people who use drugs intravenously. “Solid evidence shows that, when properly set up and maintained, supervised consumption sites save lives, and they do it without increasing drug use or crime in the neighbourhood,” Jane Philpott, Canada’s health minister, told parliament this week.
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