UBCM: Rustad vows to shut down Vancouver's first indoor supervised drug inhalation site

VANCOUVER: John Rustad has vowed to put an end to Vancouver's first indoor supervised drug inhalation site if elected.The Conservative leader said such facilities would not be operating under his watch."That's not something we'd proceed with as a Conservative government in BC," Rustad said in response to a question from the Western Standard at the Union of BC Municipalities conference.The Hope to Health Research & Innovation Centre at 625 Powell Street in the Downtown Eastside opened its doors on September 18. It was set up by the BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS.Dr. Kate Salters, a research scientist with the Epidemiology and Population Health program at the BCCFE, broke down the situation in an interview with Global News."We have seven injection spaces that you'll see around that are injection booths with a table, a chair, sharps container and a mirror for safety,” she said. "Then we also have these six supervised inhalation rooms or smoking rooms where people can come and either smoke and/or ingest their drugs in a different way."Salters explained that fresh air is constantly flowing through the rooms via a negative air pressure system, and that at the end of a user's session, "all of the air evacuates within 60 seconds and in the case of an emergency it can be evacuated within 30 seconds."She said those who choose to utilize the rooms can do so for as long as staff can handle them.Under the current regulations, smoking is prohibited in nearly all public indoor settings, however as a federally-approved site the facility was able to bypass city bylaws to allow for the inhalation of illicit substances.The move was made last year as part of a pilot project, and was slated to run until 2025, at which point the results would be analyzed.The irony is that smoking tobacco, cannabis or even vaping in public places — indoors or outdoors — is illegal in BC, with fines ranging from $575 per offence.

UBCM: Rustad vows to shut down Vancouver's first indoor supervised drug inhalation site

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