With Saskatoon looking to open Saskatchewan’s first safe injection site, Regina Police Chief Evan Bray says he welcomes the idea.
Bray said he is open to any form of harm reduction that could help combat drug use.
“It’s kind of an acknowledgment that we can’t run away from this problem, you can’t arrest a person, put them in jail, and expect we’ve solved it, because they have an addiction,” Bray said following Wednesday’s Board of Police Commissioners meeting.
A safe injection site is a place for illegal drug users to inject as safely as possible under the watchful eye of medical professionals and with clean needles.
Vancouver has been using safe injection sites for years. According to the city, they help reduce the number of overdose deaths, reduce the visibility of drugs on the street, and gives users an opportunity to make contact with health care staff, social workers and others who can help them move towards healthier choices.
A group in Saskatoon is now looking for approval from Health Canada to launch a safe injection site.
Chief Bray says if a similar form of harm reduction came forward in Regina, he would welcome it as a possible way to help reduce drug use in the city.
“We have to find ways to get (drug users) access to supports, and if we can do that through some sort of safe injection site where its harm reduction so they’re going in there, they’ve got a safe environment in which they’re consuming drugs but at the same time we’re plugging them into possible supports and services in the community. I think that’s positive.”
Opponents of safe injection sites say they encourage drug use, but for now one coming to Regina remains a hypothetical scenario.
