As Seattle considers ‘safe injection’ sites, how does it work in Canada?
Mar 2, 2016, 4:40 PM | Updated: 4:55 pm
Supporters of safe injection sites like Insite in Vancouver, BC. Seattle and King County aim to establish similar locations. (KIRO 7)
(KIRO 7)
The City of Seattle is considering the development of a program that would provide safe, structured place for addicts to inject heroin.
But just north of the border, the City of Vancouver, British Columbia has operated a similar program since 2003 with the support of its police department.
According to KIRO 7 there is a free clinic on East Hastings Street — the poorest area in Canada — where drug users can inject themselves under the watchful eye of medical professionals.
They are provided with clean supplies and a fast response if they overdose.
The city said overdoses resulting in death in the area have dropped 35 percent since the clinic opened, and it is less expensive to taxpayers than hospitalizing or jailing addicts.
As Seattle considers legal injections sites, KIRO 7’s Joanna Small went to Vancouver for an inside look at the clinic and how it works. She talked to those who run it and also those who use it. Watch her full report Wednesday night on KIRO 7 at 6 p.m.
In January alone, Seattle’s Metropolitan Improvement District Clean Team collected nearly 800 syringes in the mostly downtown Seattle neighborhoods it serves.
“We’ve done a lot of work looking at where are people dying of drug overdoses,” said Dr. Caleb Banta-Green, a University of Washington drug researcher. “It’s all across King County. It’s not just downtown.”
