On Aug. 14, 2024, the Safe Health Site Timmins — a supervised safe consumption site — closed its doors. This change came as a result of provincial policy, despite the safe consumption site receiving more than 40,000 visits and reversing more than 400 overdoses in its brief two-year stint. This small but mighty building — and its hardworking staff — saved countless lives.
Timmins is currently undergoing an opioid crisis of an unprecedented scope. Closing this facility will not reduce drug use but will instead increase opioid-related deaths, increase ambulance and paramedic wait times, and create unnecessary harm to our community.
In 2020, Timmins had the highest rate of opioid-related deaths in the province and this number went down dramatically once SHST opened. Immense scientific research shows that forcing drug users to use alone is the greatest harm to their health and their lives. Timmins needs to remember that we are all people and that regardless of whether you use drugs or not, everyone deserves a chance to live.
I understand that some have concerns over needles, loitering, and violence but we must shift our focus from blaming drug users to caring for those around us. We must remember that drug use is not a personal choice but a widespread public health issue and one that is affecting our brothers, sisters, sons, daughters, and neighbours. I urge the people of Timmins to remember this and to demand that our mayor and the province work together to re-instate Safe Health Site Timmins to reduce drug-use harm and to save lives.
Naeva Elizabeth Scott-Bouris
