Ottawa, ON – Dan Mazier, Conservative Shadow Minister for Health, issued the following statement in response to a new scientific study published in the leading, peer-reviewed journal Addiction on supervised consumption sites in Canada:
“A new study has confirmed what Conservatives have been saying for years: drug consumption and injection sites are not the answer to Canada’s addiction crisis.
“It found mortality did not increase following a supervised consumption site closure, nor an increase in emergency department visits or suspected opioid-related emergency medical service events. The study also reported a statistically significant increase in the number of people connected to addiction treatment after the closure of a supervised drug consumption site.
“Treating addiction effectively cannot be achieved by enabling the continual use of the poison that’s killing our friends, families and fellow Canadians. The system must be designed to treat this progressive and often fatal disease with compassionate, evidence-based treatment.
“The reality is that there is nothing ‘safe’ about these drug consumption sites because there is nothing safe about consuming hard drugs like fentanyl. Health Canada’s own data found that fentanyl is the most used drug in federally approved supervised consumption sites, with over 48 per cent of visits involving fentanyl use.
“Not a single supervised consumption site or overdose prevention site in Canada would be permitted to operate without the approval of Mark Carney’s Minister of Health. Supervised consumption sites require a federal exemption under Section 56.1 of the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, and overdose prevention sites operate under a class exemption issued under Subsection 56(1).
“Conservatives will break victims free from the cycle of addiction by introducing legislation in the coming weeks to reform disastrous drug enablement policies so that resources can be redirected toward real treatment.