Alberta government considering new supervised consumption sites in Edmonton

As opioid related deaths continue to sky rocket in Alberta the province has said it will once again look at opening more supervised consumption sites.

The Alberta Government is looking at opening more supervised consumption sites in what it calls “underserved areas” in Edmonton, after it said the city is experiencing more opioid-related harms than the rest of Alberta.

In a news release the province said “it is clear there is an unmet need south of the river as people currently need to go downtown to access consumption services.”

The Old Strathcona area is the first possible location being considered to expand supervised consumption site services.

“Overdose in the City of Edmonton is not specific to the downtown core where overdose prevention services are currently concentrated,” it added.

The province had closed multiple supervised consumption sites across Alberta, stating it wanted to focus on recovery options instead. Prior to the fall of 2020, supervised consumption services were offered at three sites in central Edmonton.

Advocate and Mom’s Stop the Harm co-founding director Petra Schulz calls the decision an “about face.”

She added though encouraged by the announcement, she would like to see former services return, before the province expands.

“In the Old Strathcona area there is a need, but its not as great as it is downtown, and it will also take a lot of time to set up services there,” Shulz said. “The need is right now.”