Political opposition builds to Woodstock supervised drug-use site

A Woodstock politician is asking city council colleagues to block any call to open a supervised drug-use clinic in their city as public health officials eye potential sites in Elgin and Oxford counties.

A recent Southwestern Public Health study found the region – which reports almost one overdose death a week – would benefit from such a facility, akin to one already operating in London. The health unit that oversees the two largely rural counties is entering the second phase of that study and identifying potential sites in Woodstock and St. Thomas.

count. Mark Schadenberg has proposed a motion to quash the possibility of locating one in Woodstock to “prevent unnecessary time and effort on any ongoing exploration and consideration.”

Proponents champion supervised drug-use sites to help addicts safely use illegal drugs in an environment offering support to prevent infection, overdoses and potentially death.

“We have major problems with opioids. The harms, the number of hospitalizations and emergency visits have been rising over the last few years, and the number of deaths has been significantly climbing over the last few years,” said Ninh Tran, Southwestern Public Health’s top public health official.

“We’re getting almost a death every week,” he said, adding a supervised site “is one option that we have not pursued yet.”

As of March, there were 38 supervised drug-use sites in Canada, with an estimated 2,600 visits a dy, according to the latest federal data. In the last six years, these sites responded to 47,000 overdoses and drug-related medical emergencies – with no on-site fatalities reported – and offered services to 340,000 people.

In Oxford and Elgin counties, there were 32 opioid-related deaths between April 2020 and March 2021, matching the totalbetween 2017 and 2019. Recent data show the region’s opioid-related death rate was 21.9 per 100,000 people in 2021, higher than Ontario’s rate of 10.4.

Southwestern Public Health would need a federal exemption and provincial funding to run a supervised drug-use site. The application to the Ontario government also requires municipal support.

Schadenberg raises concerns echoed in the study about having such clinics near schools and day care centres. He also worries about the availability of services, noting the London site is not open overnight.

“The one in London is only open from 9:30 am until the last intake at 8 pm So what happens if you bought something on the street at 11 pm and wanted to test it (at the clinic) to see if it was safe?” he asked.

“Heaven forbid, at two or three in the morning, or seven in the morning, and you just had to have another hit, the safe consumption is closed.”

count. Deb Tait applauded Schadenberg’s motion, and, like him, would rather see more pressure on the province to increase drug rehabilitation services.

“By giving (users) more drugs, to me, is not the option. You’ve got to give them a hand up, not a handout,” she said.

Woodstock Mayor Jerry Accione agreed, noting he wants to weigh the pros and cons before deciding.

“I think my job as mayor, I certainly have to recognize and look at all options, but I do have hesitancies with something like a safe consumption site in . . . Woodstock.”

Tran said the health unit will work with the municipalities to determine a timeline and next steps. “We’re certainly looking forward to having this dialogue on such a critical issue.”

Council will discuss the motion at its Aug. 10 meetings.

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