Injection drug use moved from the shadows into the halls of government this week after a man was caught shooting up in a public washroom at Victoria City Hall.
“It wasn’t an overdose,” said Coun. Chris Coleman, who happened to pass by just after security was called to deal with the situation.
Coleman said the incident underscores the need for supervised consumption services in the city.
The challenge, he said, is getting the facilities in place — and then getting people to use them, “so [that] all other citizens feel and are safe.”
Coleman said security was called after someone noticed the main-floor public washroom door had been locked for quite some time.
After gaining access, they determined that the man was injecting drugs, Coleman said. The man was escorted out of the building.
“They had to go in and investigate. The security guy was called in to do it, and I think he was feeling somewhat frustrated by it,” he said.
Coleman mentioned the incident as councillors were discussing options for replacing public washrooms in the Centennial Square parkade.
After-hours use of the city hall public washroom is one of the options under consideration. Staff say $10,000 a month would need to be budgeted for security if the facility were open 24 hours a day.
The province has announced it plans to open two “overdose prevention rooms” in Victoria next week to try to curtail the epidemic of overdose deaths due to fentanyl, a powerful opioid. There were 622 illicit drug overdose deaths in B.C. between Jan. 1 and Oct. 31 of this year, according to the B.C. Coroners Service. About 60 per cent have involved fentanyl.
The temporary facilities, to be operated by Island Health, will be available for people to inject drugs under supervision. They are not considered supervised consumption sites because they will not have a Health Canada issued Controlled Drugs and Substances Act exemption.
Island Health is in the process of applying for exemptions for three supervised consumption sites in Victoria.
Such sites offer a hygienic environment where people can use drugs under the supervision of trained staff. Users bring their own drugs to the facilities, which often offer other health and social services.
The aim is to reduce the number of overdose deaths and reduce public drug use and the number of discarded needles. The sites would also include a range of ancillary services, including public health, mental health, counselling and treatment services.
