Londoners support overdose prevention facility slated for February: Health Unit

Londoners are in favour of a supervised consumption siteto help the city's drug users, but many concerns remain, according toa health unit report.

The Middlesex-London Health Unit has released report results of online surveys, nine community consultations and four focus groups related to supervised consumption sites in the city.

The report comes as London police issued warnings Wednesday about suspected drug overdoses that left three people dead and two in critical condition since Monday.

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The surveys by the health unit wereconducted in November and December of 2017.

Dr. Chris Mackie, the city's chief medical officer of health, said the results were used to determine the logistics around a temporary overdose prevention facility that will pop up as soon as February. It's exact downtown locationwill be announced on Friday.

"The public made it clear through this survey that we need to be where the issues are. We shouldn't shy away from being in an area where the service isdesperately needed and we are seeing people injecting in public and in some cases dying," he said.

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The overdose prevention facility has a different funding and staffing model than a supervised consumption site. However, the biggest difference is that it's temporary, said Mackie.It will help determine how to proceed witha supervised consumption site.

Benefits

The results came from 2,145 online survey respondents, 334 in-person community members and about 56 focus group participants. Those who completed the online survey had the option of opting out ofsome questions.

More than 1,600 survey participants chose to highlight the benefits of supervised consumption sites. They said the facilities would:

• Reduce the distribution of used needles 91 per cent
• Reduce the risk of drug overdoses 90 per cent
• Reduce the spread of infectious diseases such as HIV/AIDS 90 percent
• No benefits at all 1 per cent

The 334 community participants said the facilities would:

• Reduce the risk of drug overdoses 59 per cent
• Link affected users to help 46 per cent
• Reduce the spread of infectious diseases such as HIV/AIDS 39 percent
• No benefits at all 1 per cent

Concerns

More than 1,050 survey participants said they had concerns that supervised consumption sites would:

• Bring more drug users into the neighbourhood 70 percent
• Increase drug selling and trafficking 63 per cent
• Put a damper on the image of the community 60 per cent
• No concerns 1 per cent

Of the 334 community participants, they said the facilities would:

• See an inadequate funding model to be effective 43 percent
• Put a damper on the image of the community 23 per cent
• Decrease personal safety 23 percent

However, both groups of Londoners said they preferred a community body and feedback system to deal with concerns.

More specifically, several Indigenous participants suggested additional services related to Indigenous staff and connections to elders for healing practices.

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The report said Indigenous peoplestressed the importance of having staffunderstand the systemic racism that people face as result of intergenerational trauma, which could lead to substance abuse.

Location

The location of the supervised consumption site has dominateddiscussion for Londoners.

Results showed that people heavily chose downtown locations as prospects for the supervised consumption site more specifically in areas in the Old East Village, SOHO and east of Hamilton road.

Mackie said the site will be in the downtown core. More information will be released on Friday.

A chart shows a high volume of suggestions at the intersections of Dundas and Adelaide, Dundas and Richmond and Horton and Wellington.

The report suggests that mobile sites around the entire city remain an option.