'People will die': Local experts condemn province's drug consumption sites ban

Local drug strategy experts are raising red flags about the province’s forced closure of two drug consumption sites in Kitchener and Guelph.

On Tuesday, the Ford government announced a ban on consumption treatment services (CTS) within 200 metres of schools and child care centres.

Both the Kitchener CTS site at 150 Duke Street and Guelph Community Health Centre location at 176 Wyndham Street North are mandated to close by March 2025.

On Tuesday, Guelph mayor Cam Guthrie took to social media saying in part:

“I commend the provincial government for moving forward with a detailed plan to save lives, restore families and improve communities struggling with the stranglehold of additions.”

Michael Parkinson, a drug strategy specialist who spent years working on the front lines, said the province’s decision is a mistake.

“The premier and minister are wrong,” Parkinson told CTV News. “People will die and they will die very quickly.”

The Sanguen Health Centre manages Kitchener’s CTS site in partnership with the Region of Waterloo. In a press release, the centre said it successfully reversed 1,031 overdoses on-site since 2019 without a single death.

Parkinson says CTS sites allow people battling addictions to receive supports under the right supervision.

“The solution is not to remove [drug consumption services],” Parkinson said. “People will simply be dispersed elsewhere.”

The Wellington Guelph Drug Strategy said it was disappointed to hear of the CTS closures.

“They are a life-saving service and we know that the closure of a life-saving service within a drug poisoning crisis will directly lead to high numbers of fatalities,” Wellington Guelph Drug Strategy manager Jean Hopkins told CTV News.

Both the Kitchener and Guelph sites can apply to transition into provincially funded Homelessness and Addiction Recovery Treatment (HART) Hubs. The facilities will be designed to offer housing and primary care, but not consumption treatment.

“We’re very happy to see a focus on housing, but again there’s that concern that the proposed model may be ineffective without a full continuum of services,” Hopkins said.

Mayor Guthrie says the City of Guelph will review the criteria to obtain provincial funded for a local HART Hub.

Region of Waterloo chair Karen Redman says they’re still unpacking the details of what a HART Hub will bring to the region.

Redman adds if the region and its partners move ahead with the transition, the plan would be to have the HART Hub in place in time for the CTS closure to offer seamless treatment for clients to recover from their addictions.

Parkinson fears the change won’t be that easy.

“At the end of the day dead people don’t recover,” Parkinson said. “They don’t have an opportunity to get onto a waitlist for addiction treatment and that’s really the bottom line.”

Parkinson says the province’s ban won’t only impact CTS clients, but end up being more expensive for tax payers and put more strain on hospitals and emergency services.