The Downtown Vancouver Business Improvement Association announced Thursday afternoon that they will officially support the establishment of supervised consumption sites in the downtown core.
“The Downtown Vancouver Business Improvement Association is proud to officially lend our support to supervised consumption sites in the downtown core,” said CEO Charles Gauthier. “Supervised consumption sites save lives and prevent the spread of diseases among drug users and the general public. Clientele of supervised consumption sites are also more likely to enroll in methadone maintenance or other drug treatment programs.”
Gauthier said that during meetings last summer, the association’s policy advisory council identified and ranked a number of potential policy issues. One of the most pressing issues that came out of the meetings was mental health and addictions.
The association met with health care providers in the fall off 2017 and held a subsequent meeting with Vancouver Coastal Health in late 2017 looking for clarification on future plans and offering assistance to address the opioid crisis.
Gauthier said the issue has really come to the fore for many businesses in the last two years.
“As one of our business members said, we have unsafe consumption sites right now with people using in restrooms and in other locations on private property and they’re doing so potentially at the risk of dying, or [businesses are] having to deal with the discarded needles themselves,” he said.
“We really believe that we need to be in front of this and also indicate our support to health authorities that as an organization we’re supportive.”
“The Downtown Business Improvement Association’s position demonstrates a commitment to the health and wellbeing of our community,” said Dr. Reka Gustafson, medical health officer with Vancouver Coastal Health. “We know through both research and experience that supervised injection services are lifesaving, and can link clients to other health and support services. During this overdose crisis, no deaths have occurred at supervised injection or overdose prevention sites — a testament to how harm reduction can create safer and healthier communities,” she said.
“We look forward to the continued support from the DVBIA as we strive to integrate supervised injection services as a standard service throughout our health care system.”
New numbers released by BC Coroner’s Service Thursday morning indicate the opioid crisis is showing no signs of slowing down.
In March there were 161 deaths in the province from suspected illicit drug overdoses, the second highest monthly total to date and a significant increase from February, which recorded 102.
Vancouver has recorded 102 suspected illicit drug overdose deaths so far this year, an average of 34 per month, which is up from an average of 30.5 deaths per month in 2017.
More than 1,400 British Columbians died due to an illicit drug overdose in 2017, 366 in Vancouver.
