Fredericton addictions clinic not causing rise in drug users, homelessness, says doctor

In an effort to dispel what she says are myths about the impact a Fredericton addictions clinic has had on businesses and residents in the downtown, the head of the clinic spoke before a city council committee Thursday.

Dr. Sara Davidson said the River Stone Recovery Centre has not resulted in an influx of illicit drug users to Fredericton and has not worsened the issue of homelessness in the city's downtown.   

"We ask everybody who joins the program where they're from and … we did have three people who moved to Fredericton," said Davidson, speaking to Mayor Kate Rogers and other members of the governance and civic engagement committee.

"It's not the busloads of people, which I've heard we've brought here. It's just not true."

The River Stone Recovery Centre opened in July 2020 as part of a program funded by Health Canada aimed at reducing the harms suffered by users of potentially toxic street drugs.

The treatment options include injectable and orally-administered opioid-agonist therapy, which involves administering a prescribed opioid dosage to people addicted to drugs such as fentanyl and oxycodone.

The clinic also offers stimulant replacement therapy by prescribing off-label drugs to those suffering from addiction to drugs like crystal meth, and it has a rapid treatment program aimed at eradicating hepatitis C, a highly infectious blood-borne virus.

Davidson said she wanted to tell councillors about a new clinical trial the centre is participating in that is aimed at determining the effectiveness of treating addiction to drugs like crystal meth by using prescription drugs typically used to treat attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder.

But she also spent a chunk of her time at the podium rebutting a list of what she says are myths that some people in the city are perpetuating about how the clinic operates and the knock-on effects it's having.

"I just yesterday had someone tell me that a paramedic had said to them that a busload [of people] gets shipped in from Ontario on a regular basis to take part in our program," said Davidson, in an interview after her presentation.

"I don't know where that came from."

Davidson said her clinic's program is not making the city's homeless problem worse, but rather has improved things.

She said 60 per cent of the patients who were homeless when they started the injectable opioid-agonist therapy program reported being housed after 12 months, and 90 per cent reported finding a home after two years.

She said 85 per cent of participants in the same program also reported they no longer were stealing to survive.