Nanaimo city council has put off a discussion on requesting the closure of an overdose prevention site in the city.
Councillor Ian Thorpe brought a motion to council’s July 28 meeting, which asked council to consider requesting Island Health close the supervised drug consumption site at 250 Albert Street and put future efforts toward drug free treatment facilities.
“I honestly think that it is time for council to discuss this – to take a stand and to make a statement regarding the harm that is being done currently to our community,” Thorpe said in the meeting. “The disorder on our streets is the result of failure to come to grips with drug use. The government experiment of decriminalization and normalization of open drug use and addiction on our street, quite frankly in my opinion, has been an abject failure.”
Thorpe said he believes money should be spent on drug treatment and claimed the overdose prevention site provides free drugs to people with addiction challenges.
According to Island Health’s website, the Nanaimo OPS offers a “safe and welcoming drop-in space with harm reduction supplies, support and education; witnessed consumption for injection and inhalation for safer drug use and rapid overdose response; referrals and links to other services, including mental health, substance use, primary care, addiction medicine, treatment and recovery options” and drug checking.
Councillor Sheryl Armstrong pointed out Thorpe’s inaccuracy and moved to defer the motion, saying council should hear from Island Health and the operators before making a decision.
“Drugs aren’t free at the consumption site. They are tested to make sure that they are safe. So, they are not getting free drugs there. I do agree that there are issues with the safe consumption site the way it is. I would like to see Island Health also look at the possibility of mobile overdose prevention sites,” Armstrong said. She pointed out most people who die from illicit drugs die inside a home and a mobile site may help.
Councillor Hilary Eastmure spoke in favour of the deferral and said it is embarrassing to discuss closing the OPS without discussing the city’s concerns with Island Health.
“Jumping right to the idea of closing the OPS is almost like we are doing our own referendum on the importance of harm reduction and at the end of the day, this is ensuring that less harm is being done. They are doing this work to ensure that less people are being killed by the toxic drug,” she said.
She said closing the site could put more pressure on emergency responders getting called for overdose.
“Given the fundamental misunderstanding of what the OPS actually does, I think it is really important we have a more in-depth discussion, bring the partners to the table so that we can get to the root of some of the issues – which is the fact that we don’t have enough supports at that particular site and we need to have that conversation first before we jump into this,” Eastmure said.
Mayor Leonard Krog pointed out council does not have authority to close the OPS and the motion is an opportunity for people to state their views and engage in a discussion.
Thorpe closed the discussion by saying he believes his motion would be a message to the province.
“I am not attacking Island Health, I am not attacking the consumption site per se, I am certainly not attacking the operators. They just take direction from the province. What I am attacking is the philosophy of our provincial government and I am being very blunt about that,” Thorpe said. “We as a local government cannot solve the drug problem and the social disorder that it is causing but we can stand up and urge the provincial government to have a second look at what it’s doing—to consider changing course to put money into treatment and rehabilitation, not in enabling drug use.”
Councillor Ben Geselbracht said he was unsure about deferral, rather than just voting against the motion. He, Tyler Brown and Thorpe voted against deferral.
