People hold a banner during a march to remember those who died during the overdose crisis and to call for a safe supply of illicit drugs on International Overdose Awareness Day, in Vancouver, in August, 2021.DARRYL DYCK/The Canadian Press
Vancouver city officials have given notice that a downtown overdose prevention site whose presence has led to outcry and a lawsuit from some area residents will not have its lease extended next spring.
The Vancouver Coastal Health Authority, which funds the site as part of its harm-reduction efforts with drug users, said in an e-mail that it is “disappointed” that the city has chosen to force it to find a new location.
The authority was notified July 19, by Vancouver’s community services general manager, Sandra Singh, that its facility has “proved unviable for sustained operations” and will not have its lease renewed in March, 2024. The site, where clients can use illegal drugs with staff standing by in case they overdose, is located near Granville Street. It is run by the RainCity Housing and Support Society, which did not respond to a request for comment.
The news has harm-reduction advocates concerned that politicians are giving in to a conservative backlash.
“It’s been a big issue for a small group, and it’s disappointing,” said Sarah Blyth, an early advocate for, and experienced operator of, overdose prevention sites. “A health service shouldn’t be determined by NIMBYism.”
Guy Felicella, a former drug user who recovered and is now an advocate for drug-policy improvements, said the site is being blamed for problems over which it has little control.
“They’re scapegoating the OPS for poor housing policies,” Mr. Felicella said, using an abbreviation for overdose prevention site. Before the facility was opened, he noted, the area had the second-highest number of deaths from toxic drugs in the Lower Mainland, after the Downtown Eastside.
The site opened in 2021 and almost immediately attracted scrutiny. A local resident and a company controlled by prominent developer Bruno Wall filed a proposed class action lawsuit last month, targeting the city, the local health authority and RainCity. They allege the site’s presence has led to an increase in public drug use, crime and disorder, and also that that city and health officials have failed to take steps to prevent those problems.
The site is two blocks away from a part of Granville Street that has been known since the 1970s as a place where people can buy, sell and use drugs. Hotels in the area provide inexpensive housing.
City councillor Peter Meiszner, who supports the lease termination, said all the health authority needs to do now is find a more suitable location than the current one, where he said inadequate space has caused people to wait around on the sidewalk outside before and after using the facility.
“I’m not taking issue with life-saving services they’re offering inside the site, but there’s no management of the public realm outside the site,” said Mr. Meiszner, who was elected as part of the ABC Vancouver majority last fall. “It’s too small, and there wasn’t a good plan to manage the public realm outside the site.”
Mr. Meiszner said the decision not to extend the lease, which he emphasized was made by staff and not council, is not the result of well-off people being uncomfortable with the site.
“It’s a wide cross-section of people who have concerns about what’s happening outside the site,” he said. “I don’t think this is an issue of a wealthy neighbourhood. I think it’s an issue of a poorly managed site.”
He said the notice to the health authority about the lease gives them almost a year to find a new location.
Christine Boyle, a councillor with the OneCity party, agreed that the site is too small and hasn’t been funded properly to deal with street issues. But she said the city should have ensured health officials had secured a new location before terminating the lease.
“We should be providing reassurances that we won’t allow a gap in services,” she added.
Public-health researchers have said that supervised injection sites and overdose prevention sites provide noticeable benefits to both users and their surrounding communities.
“There’s decades of research that they are effective,” said Mary Clare Kennedy, a Canada Research Chair in substance use and policy at the University of British Columbia’s School of Social Work. “People often have fears about the negative impacts … but research shows there have been decreases in crime and fewer people using drugs in public spaces” when those services are offered.
B.C. currently has 47 overdose prevention sites and supervised injection sites operating, including 10 in the Vancouver Coastal health region and 13 in the Fraser Valley health region.
Frances Bula