Public consultations for proposed safe injection site locations being planned for summer months

More movement towards a Consumption andTreatment Services Site for the city of Windsor is in the works according to the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit (WECHU).

"We are moving forward," chief executive officerTheresa Marentette said.

The health unit began its search for potential locations for the site, which is meant to give people a safe place to consume drugs and get services to help deal with them,by seeking interest from building owners and landlords for a location last November.

At a health unit board meeting Thursday evening it was revealed that there were two proposed locations for the site but there was no mention of what those sites were.

Marentette confirmed discussions around the locations have taken place and consultations for the two sites are currently beingplanned.

"You're going to hear more about the community consultation process in June and July regarding some sites that we have, we'd like to propose," Marentette said.

Marentette anticipates holding the consultations between June and August of this year, but due to complications around virtual consultations and engaging of stakeholders she did not confirm when they would be completed.

'Spike in opioid overdoses'

Windsor-Essex has seen a significant rise in opioid-related overdoses over the course of this last year. Between April and May, there were 16 overdoses recorded and ten EMS overdosenotifications were flagged as well.

In a briefing earlier this month, Dr. Wajid Ahmed, medical officer of health for Windsor and Essex County, said that the pandemic is affecting those with substance use and mental health problems more severely than others.

"These high rates of overdoses [are] ringing alarm in our community and we want to make sure that all the agencies that are working with this population are aware and are creating that awareness, distributing naloxone kits [and] ensuring that all the proper education is provided to them,"Dr. Ahmed said.