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Regina’s only supervised consumption site will now operate beyond an urgent needs basis.
In a social media post, the Newo-Yotina Friendship Centre said it has been granted an exemption for its overdose prevention site, Wâhkôhtowin Harm Reduction, the first supervised consumption site in the city.
“Thank you to all our community members that have supported, advocated and fund-raised alongside us as we worked towards achieving our goal of become supervised consumption site,” read the statement on social media.
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Wâhkôhtowin Harm Reduction opened in 2021, operating under an urgent needs exemption. It is one of two safe consumption sites in Saskatchewan, the other being Prairie Harm Reduction in Saskatoon.
“Supervised consumption sites have been proven to save lives and benefit communities,” read the post. “Our supervised consumption site offers a range of evidence-based harm reduction services, such as drug checking.”
The site also provides additional services, including connecting people with health and social services, and referrals for substance use treatment.
According to the Public to Health Agency of Canada, supervised consumption sites provide a safe, clean space for people to bring their own drugs to use in the presence of trained staff. This prevents accidental overdoses and reduces the spread of infectious diseases, such as HIV.
Saskatchewan had the worst rates of HIV infections in Canada with 19.4 per infections per 100,000 people.
The supervised consumption site in Regina will operate under the guidelines from Health Canada.
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