Safe Injection Sites approved for edm, Cgy announcement tba

[corporatejay]

Originally Posted by Ozy_Flame

I don't really understand what is being said here. You are saying they always dump garbage out when collecting cans? That's just not true, unless they are doing some serious dumpster diving. Most can and bottle pickers don't make a mess like that, especially if they are just picking through regular garbage cans or recycling bins.

If there is incentive, they will do it. The bottle/can recycling is more than evident of that.

They don't always do it, it does happen though.

[you&me]

Originally Posted by Igottago

That is exactly what I'm saying. Although I'm speaking more about my observations here in Vancouver. You'll often see piles of trash from garbage bins thrown around all over the place. I'm assuming they are looking for cans when doing it. That being said the drug problem in Vancouver is next level. And granted, I don't think the standard homeless person is doing it. But when the addicts are doing it they literally throw trash all over the place.

And that was kind of my point - is that sort of recklessness what you want to encourage when it comes to picking up needles. It's either carelessness or a lack of fine motor control... either one is a bad mix when it comes to picking up needles.

Am I misunderstanding something? I always thought the safe injection sites were, you know, injection sites. I'm shocked that they're little more than a "come get a clean needle and be on your way" sites.

[chemgear]

They have a needle exchange and distribution program I believe.

[Derek Sutton]

This has been an issue in Lethbridge for many months now. The Safe Consumption Site is not only a "safe place" for junkies to indulge but also they hand out needles no questions asked, which are taken off site and left scattered about the city. It's also been a huge problem for business in the area. Loitering (and "sleeping") in entrances, customers staying away, crime and vandalism of vehicles in the area.

Basically the city says the province is in charge of the site so theres nothing city council can do, and the experts who run the place will do whats best... for the addicts, and gives the needles. City council has also chosen to not bother try doing something (such as enforcing a needle exchange program)because, well most of them are useless.

It is also very well know that the lot next to the front door of this place is a very good place for the dealers to conduct their business. The police turn a blind eye to this because they don't want this activity driven elsewhere in the city should they enforce the actual law.

I think many are on board with safe consumption sites but they should be just that.

[chemgear]

https://calgary.ctvnews.ca/fallout-f...rant-1.4018895


The co-owner of Provision, a restaurant situated across the street from the SMCHC in Central Memorial Park, says his business has seen a steady decline in customers following the influx of visitors to the supervised consumption site.

“This is my last week of lunches here,” said Kirk Shaw on Wednesday. “Last summer I would have three waitresses and myself running flat out, doing 70 to 80 covers a lunch. I’m down now to one waitress doing maybe 20. We did nine last Wednesday.”

“I’m in the downtown core and I expect a certain level of this behaviour but the difference between this year and last year is like night and day. It’s been in effect for about eight months and we’re seeing absolutely, catastrophic effects of their public health policy.”

“The harm reduction strategy shouldn’t go away, it just has to be revamped. It really needs a hard, hard shakeup. It might be working for the junkies but it’s not working for anyone else in the neighbourhood.”

[brocoli]

To nit pick a tad it is a Supervised Consumption Site. They don't want to invoke the thought of safety with drugs. And that just comes from my significant other who is on the board in Lethbridge ramming that down my throat. Lethbridge is seeing the worst now. Businesses are moving away, people are avoiding areas as a whole as they are just not safe.

I agree with DS as our City council has chosen to drop the issue for now in the hopes that it will go under the rug. I agree with all on here in that needles should in no way be allowed to leave the facility. However, as it's been pointed out to me, if needles don't leave then we'll have the same HIV/AIDS issues that we have been having due to needle sharing

[redforever]

Originally Posted by Ozy_Flame

Getting people to pick up their own mess should be the ultimate goal. And like any group of people, they need incentive to do it.

Money, gift cards, social assistance, clothing/food/shelter - whatever it is, give them something. Otherwise the same stuff is just going to keep happening.

How about saying that if they wish to use the facility again, they have to return the needle to the safe injection site.

[metallicat]

Tristan Hopper got absolutely skewered for his Twitter rant about the safe injection sites in Edmonton, and for good reason. An absolutely terrible NIMBYism take, and he should feel bad.

[Huntingwhale]

TIL that the safe injection sites don't actually require the patrons to stay on site under supervision. It's simply a place to collect fresh needles and they can go off site. No wonder this crap is everywhere.

I was onboard with these safe injection sites as I thought giving the users a safe place to consume their drugs was a good idea, under medical supervision. If I had known it was simply a needle pick up place and they are free to use them outside...that kind of changes how I view it.

So instead of dirty HIV needles lying in parks and playgrounds, it's non-HIV needles in parks and playgrounds?

I mean, I guess that's better

I've had the displeasure of seeing intravenous users inject themselves, and the very last thing on their mind is making sure the needles are disposed of properly. It's the same reason you see condoms and cigarette butts lying around in some places. People dont' give a crap when their all hopped up and had their fix. Very few people walk around with a dirty cigarette butt/needle looking for a garbage can when it's easier to toss it aside.

I can totally understand why residents would be angry about this.

[Ozy_Flame]

There's two issues here: needles being left on the ground (among other things), and the safety issue of people under the influence infiltrating the area.

The needle pickup seems easier to fix (incentives provided, perhaps a cleanup crew in the area). The crime and safety issue is another one I am not sure how to handle.

A needle exchange program for privileges to use the safe injection site would be a good idea too, but probably hard to monitor.

[driveway]

I used to live right next to the needle exchange in Victoria. My building was the first alcove up, and also hosted an outreach centre. After dark, there would be 8-15 users there every night, in various states of using.

I lived there for a year and never had a single problem. They were unfailingly polite when I needed them to get out of my way to get into the building. I never had a confrontation, never saw needles left behind, and never worried about my place (who's gonna cross a moat of junkies to rob a place?)

I am pro-safe-injection sites.

[chemgear]

https://calgaryherald.com/news/local...8-1a851cc96916

Beltline safe consumption site seeing increased presence in drug addicts, dealers: police chief

Calgary’s first supervised consumption site has prompted a migration of drug users and dealers to the city’s Beltline, sparking “significant concerns” among nearby residents, Calgary’s acting police chief told federal legislators.

“The biggest issue we have is that our drug dealers have now, of course, learned where their clients have moved to, and that’s one of the biggest issues we’re dealing with right now is having to . . . arrest our way out of that part of the issue.”

Along with the rise in client visits, police have recorded an increase in violent crime and social disorder calls within a 500-metre radius of Safeworks.

From January to October, the area saw a 23 per cent increase in social disorder calls compared with the same period last year, as well as a 17 per cent uptick over the three-year average. About two-thirds of those calls were related to unwanted guests or suspicious people.

Calgary police District 1 Insp. Rob Davidson, whose Ramsay-based station patrols Calgary’s downtown, including the safe consumption site, said the past few months have seen a spike in criminal activity in the area around Safeworks.

“It’s only in the last 10 weeks or so we’ve started to see an increase in specific criminal trends that are closer to the Sheldon Chumir facility,” he said, noting they’ve seen a rise in car prowlings, vehicle thefts and other property crimes in the immediate vicinity.

“We’re trying to figure out why that specifically would be, but we’ve also seen amount of usage at the site has also gone up significantly.”

“We’re seeing a lot of open air-drug trafficking and people trying to sell stolen property,” said Davidson, adding they began sending more resources to the area between August and September.

Despite the recent police crackdown, Davidson said the tone at community meetings has been one of growing discomfort and fear about both crime trends and a surge in complaints about used needle debris in public spaces.

“They’re not feeling safe in their community and we have to tackle that.”

[GullFoss]

Originally Posted by chemgear

https://calgaryherald.com/news/local...8-1a851cc96916

Beltline safe consumption site seeing increased presence in drug addicts, dealers: police chief

Calgary’s first supervised consumption site has prompted a migration of drug users and dealers to the city’s Beltline, sparking “significant concerns” among nearby residents, Calgary’s acting police chief told federal legislators.

“The biggest issue we have is that our drug dealers have now, of course, learned where their clients have moved to, and that’s one of the biggest issues we’re dealing with right now is having to . . . arrest our way out of that part of the issue.”

Along with the rise in client visits, police have recorded an increase in violent crime and social disorder calls within a 500-metre radius of Safeworks.

From January to October, the area saw a 23 per cent increase in social disorder calls compared with the same period last year, as well as a 17 per cent uptick over the three-year average. About two-thirds of those calls were related to unwanted guests or suspicious people.

Calgary police District 1 Insp. Rob Davidson, whose Ramsay-based station patrols Calgary’s downtown, including the safe consumption site, said the past few months have seen a spike in criminal activity in the area around Safeworks.

“It’s only in the last 10 weeks or so we’ve started to see an increase in specific criminal trends that are closer to the Sheldon Chumir facility,” he said, noting they’ve seen a rise in car prowlings, vehicle thefts and other property crimes in the immediate vicinity.

“We’re trying to figure out why that specifically would be, but we’ve also seen amount of usage at the site has also gone up significantly.”

“We’re seeing a lot of open air-drug trafficking and people trying to sell stolen property,” said Davidson, adding they began sending more resources to the area between August and September.

Despite the recent police crackdown, Davidson said the tone at community meetings has been one of growing discomfort and fear about both crime trends and a surge in complaints about used needle debris in public spaces.

“They’re not feeling safe in their community and we have to tackle that.”

I've sent complaints to Farkas. Not sure if he's going to do anything...perhaps he's too concerned with items outside of his jurisdiction

[Thor]

I wish we could take a decriminalization as the model to start really dealing with illegal drugs, I would even like to see the legalization of much of what we consider illegal today with strict regulations and part of profits used to educate, treat and deal with drugs.

This would also include taking on pharmaceutical companies which are getting away with murder as more and more prescription drugs are being created which are creating huge drug abuse problems, yet they get away with it because its "legal."

[killer_carlson]

This is really unfortunate.

Clearly there is a coordinated plan lacking between levels of government. The communities have to be supported better.

[chemgear]

https://calgaryherald.com/news/local...related-crimes

Residents and business owners in the Beltline are becoming increasingly concerned with criminal activity near the city’s only safe-injection site, as police say violence and drug dealing in the community are on the rise.

The site has seen a significant increase in clients over the past few months, but violent crimes in the area are also on the rise as police say drug dealers are flocking to the community to target the vulnerable population using the site.

Earlier in the month, Hamnadieh said he witnessed an older man being held up at knifepoint just outside his place of work. Armed only with a broom, Hamnadieh rushed to defend the victim until police arrived a short time later.

“He was robbing somebody outside with a knife,” he said of the encounter. “I’m not going to leave (the victim), the guy is like 60 years old.”

Hamnadieh has only lived in the area for less than six months, but said the robbery incident happened not long after witnessing two overdoses and someone tried to break into his apartment.

“I’m not against (the site), but I’m not with it,” he said. “The thing is, if you want to do this thing you have to get cops around.”

JoAnn McCaig, who runs Shelf Life Books across from Safeworks, said a man walked into the business Thursday around 5:30 p.m. and “injected himself in plain view of our staff and customers.”

“The escalation of problems, I can’t even put it into words,” she said. “There are times where we have an incident every day. I just went out to our parking lot and found three individuals back there leaving syringes behind.”

McCaig said she understands the need for the safe-injection site and isn’t casting judgment on Safeworks clients. But the shop owner said Alberta Health Services needs to reconsider “the effects on the community . . . so that they can try to mitigate.

“Addicts deserve our compassion and they deserve every opportunity to seek recovery and improve their mental health . . . And if that’s what a safe-injection site is for, the opposite has occurred here,” she said.

Police said violent crime and social disorder calls within a 500-metre radius of Safeworks are steadily increasing.

[corporatejay]

Hamsterdam seems like the only solution here. Having cops on site and come down HARD on people who break the rules.

[GullFoss]

I saw a girl giving a dude a blow job a block from the injection site in an alleyway on Monday afternoon. Based on the characters involved, I woudk guess it was a sex for drug money exchange.

But it may have also been just a sex for drugs exchange with no money involved at all!

The beltline is a great place to feel safe and raise a family...

[CaptainCrunch]

Originally Posted by Huntingwhale

TIL that the safe injection sites don't actually require the patrons to stay on site under supervision. It's simply a place to collect fresh needles and they can go off site. No wonder this crap is everywhere.

I was onboard with these safe injection sites as I thought giving the users a safe place to consume their drugs was a good idea, under medical supervision. If I had known it was simply a needle pick up place and they are free to use them outside...that kind of changes how I view it.

So instead of dirty HIV needles lying in parks and playgrounds, it's non-HIV needles in parks and playgrounds?

I mean, I guess that's better

I've had the displeasure of seeing intravenous users inject themselves, and the very last thing on their mind is making sure the needles are disposed of properly. It's the same reason you see condoms and cigarette butts lying around in some places. People dont' give a crap when their all hopped up and had their fix. Very few people walk around with a dirty cigarette butt/needle looking for a garbage can when it's easier to toss it aside.

I can totally understand why residents would be angry about this.

See, I thought the idea behind safe injection sites was to give them access to clean needles, and clean drugs and help. And be able to encourage addicts and educate them.


If its just a drive through and these problems are happening, then there's a strategic problem.

[Flash Walken]

Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch

See, I thought the idea behind safe injection sites was to give them access to clean needles, and clean drugs and help. And be able to encourage addicts and educate them.


If its just a drive through and these problems are happening, then there's a strategic problem.

It's mostly about slowing the spread if infectious disease and preventing overdoses, both of which cost the city a ####load of money to deal with.

This isn't a safe inejction site problem, it's a community health and enforcement problem.