Safe consumption sites, which can be overdose prevention sites, supervised consumption sites or episodic Overdose Prevention Services (eOPS) are evidence-based health services that provide a place where people who use drugs can be safely monitored and treated if they overdose, according to Interior Health's website.
These sites are aimed at reducing overdose deaths, lowering rates of infectious disease, and connecting illicit drugs users to supports and referrals to treatment options.
Staff provide supervision while clients use substances they bring to the site themselves. The site and staff offer harm reduction, including naloxone, clean needles and other supplies and support to prevent further health complications.
The Interior Health website describes episodic overdose prevention sites (eOPS) as more temporary sites set up to provide urgent overdose prevention in key locations with high overdose rates or deaths.
Shenaya Johnny
“I feel like it would be a good thing and it would bring a lot of positive changes into the Williams Lake society and that a lot of people would benefit from it”
Rick Cunningham
“I'm in favour of it. Having been a cop in Ontario for 17 years and dealing with it, I have no problem with the safe consumption site, it’s better than people having untested drugs and dying on the street.”
Chad Lance Daniels
"Pretty good." "It would help a little bit."
Caitlin Foote
“Williams Lake is so temperamental the people here are quite insular I don’t think this particular community is going to go for it...in smaller communities, especially rural, it's just sort of inflaming an already present problem I think that there are other ways that we could go about solving that particular problem, not safe injection sites.”
Louise Marie Duncan
"That would be nice. I think that would be a good idea for the community here."
Harold Pinette
"That would be okay."
"I do believe in helping the people that need it."
