Harm reduction group would like to see supervised consumption site in Regina

It’s far down the road, but a safe consumption site could be on the way to Regina.

The province’s first supervised injection site opened in Saskatoon on Thursday.

It’s a step that Amanda Sauer, the education co-ordinator with AIDS Programs South Saskatchewan (APSS), is very excited to hear about.

“We are so incredibly happy for them. They are going to be doing some much-needed work. They are going to be saving lives. We are just so thrilled that they have taken this first step in the province,” she said Thursday.

She hopes that one day, APSS could set up a similar facility in the Queen City. This year, there have been a number of overdoses in the city. The situation has reached the point where her organization has given out more than 1,500 kits of naloxone — a drug that can save someone’s life during an overdose — since January.

“(Building a safe consumption site) is something we’re definitely interested in doing. We have started that conversation (and) started down that path,” she explained.

However, it’s not an easy path to walk. There are many challenges along the way, including funding and regulatory processes.

“We have to jump through all of these hoops. (Those include) getting the community’s approval and getting the funding, which is going to a major issue,” she said.

Sauer believes the biggest challenge is how people perceive those with drug issues.

“Stigma is really big. (It’s) people not understanding what it’s really like to have substance use disorders and to be in that kind of position, so we’re expecting stigma pushback in that regard,” she said.

If APSS can get the facility built in Regina, she believes it could save lives.

“The best comparison we have is a bar, a place where you go and drink alcohol … That’s a supervised consumption site. It’s a place where you can consume a product that you want to and there is help readily available,” she explained.

“Another thing we really try to talk to our clients about is never using alone. One of the main symptoms of an opioid overdose is that the person slips into unconsciousness and they can’t breathe. So if you are by yourself and you overdose, there is going to be nobody there who can help you.

“By providing these sites, there is going to be help available, and lives can be saved. For us, that is the main thing.”

Because of the challenges ahead, there is not yet a timeline for when a supervised injection site might begin construction in Regina.