Manitoba’s first formal overdose prevention site launches in Winnipeg

Since Friday, dozens have picked up harm reduction supplies such as needles, Sunshine House's executive director Levi Foy said. It's also a place people can test and use drugs.

A new project to help prevent drug overdose deaths, which have surged during the pandemic, is underway just off Main Street in downtown Winnipeg.

On Sunday, Sunshine House navigated its third day of operating Manitoba’s first formal overdose prevention site — one that’s being operated out of an RV the organization purchased over the summer.

Since Friday, dozens have picked up harm reduction supplies, including clean needles, condoms and safer smoking kits, Sunshine House’s executive director Levi Foy told Global News on Sunday.

It’s also a place people can test and use drugs.

“They can test their supply on the site or they can take them to a place where they’re more comfortable and test their supply so that they can be aware of the presence of either benzos or fentanyl in their substances, so they can make better decisions,” Foy said.

The team plans on mainly serving the downtown, Point Douglas, West Broadway and West End neighbourhoods between Tuesday and Sunday, Foy said.

“In the event there is a negative reaction, we can intervene immediately, and that way we can prevent, hopefully, loss of life or any serious harms.”

On Thursday, Health Canada gave Sunshine House the Urgent Public Health Needs Sites exemption it needed to run the project, the organization announced over social media last week. The mobile overdose prevention site officially opened on Friday following months of waiting for approval.