Manitoba still seeking space for 1st supervised consumption site, minister says on overdose awareness day

Posted on August 30, 2024 by Peggy

Manitoba is still searching for a space for its first supervised consumption site, the province’s addictions minister said Friday, as government officials and advocates marked International Overdose Awareness Day at the legislative building.

Bernadette Smith said the province is “working diligently” on getting the site “up and running in the coming months.” The province previously said it has an expected opening date in 2025.

“That is our goal right now,” Smith said. “We haven’t identified a site yet, so that’s our first priority.”

The NDP government promised in its budget to spend $2.5 million this year toward planning and developing the site, which is being steered by the Aboriginal Health & Wellness Centre. An official there said in July it was working with a commercial Realtor to find a location somewhere west of Main Street for the site, which can’t be near schools but must be in a location accessible to people who use drugs.

Minister Smith’s comments Friday came as a crowd gathered at the legislative building for the unveiling of a tree planted in honour of those affected by drug poisoning, a day ahead of International Overdose Awareness Day on Saturday.

Dr. Marcia Anderson, vice-dean of Indigenous health, social justice and anti-racism at the University of Manitoba’s Rady Faculty of Health Sciences, said steps like the supervised consumption site are important but more is still needed.

Two people stand together, with one of them holding a framed photo of a man. — People gather at the legislative building Friday for the unveiling of a tree planted in honour of those affected by drug poisoning, a day ahead of International Overdose Awareness Day on Saturday. (Prabhjot Singh Lotey/CBC)

“We know that those sites really only help in the proximate area that they are, and we know that people are being harmed by the toxic drug supply everywhere on our homelands. So we need to see increased numbers of supervised consumption sites, more mobile overdose prevention sites,” she said to applause, adding the government also needs to work with regulatory colleges to increase the number of prescribers of safer-supply drugs for people who need them.

Smith also read a proclamation officially declaring Aug. 31 International Overdose Awareness Day in Manitoba. The legislative building will be lit purple to mark the day.

Rising overdose deaths in April

It comes as overdose deaths appear to be rising in Manitoba, with preliminary data for the month of April released this week by Manitoba’s chief medical examiner showing more than 50 suspected drug-related deaths that month.

The April numbers are “much higher” than the numbers in February and March, Kathryn Braun, executive director of the Chief Medical Examiner’s Office, said in an email. They include one case where a drug of the extremely potent nitazene class was detected. Braun said Manitoba has had a few cases in which that kind of drug was found.

Of the 53 deaths in April, 20 were among people 50 or older — 10 people were in their 50s and another 10 were 60 or older. Nine deaths were among people in their 40s, 13 were among people in their 30s, eight were in their 20s and three were 19 or younger.

More than three-quarters of those 53 deaths — 41 — involved at least one opioid, and 32 of those involved fentanyl. Of those fentanyl-related deaths, 28 involved either cocaine, methamphetamine or a combination of both. Another suspected overdose case involved carfentanil, which is even more potent.

Of the total drug-related deaths, 27 involved methamphetamine, 20 involved cocaine and six involved both. There were also 22 involving the benzodiazepine bromazolam, 17 involving para-fluorofentanyl — a powerful fentanyl analog — and 16 involving the designer drug desalkylgidazepam, or DAG, the data says.

A woman kneels near a tree with flowers at the bottom. — Longtime advocate Arlene Last-Kolb, who lost her son to fentanyl poisoning in 2014, says it breaks her heart to see the latest overdose numbers in Manitoba. (Prabhjot Singh Lotey/CBC)

Those numbers make up part of the total 171 suspected overdose deaths reported from January to April, Minister Smith said. Last year, the total number of overdose deaths in Manitoba was 445, she said.

Shohan Illsley, executive director of the Manitoba Harm Reduction Network, said the increasing number of overdoses has led to service providers having to administer “countless doses” of naloxone.

“We were not trained beyond basic first aid and CPR. We had no choice but to become trained in overdose prevention,” Illsley said.

Longtime advocate Arlene Last-Kolb, who works with the organization Moms Stop the Harm after losing her son to fentanyl poisoning in 2014, said it breaks her heart to see the latest overdose numbers in Manitoba.

“I know how incredibly hard it is to live without a child or a loved one, but I hope that you will be incredibly proud today for the change each and every one of our loved ones has been a part of,” she said.