With the city's safe consumption site slated to close this month, Timmins Police is looking into filling harm reduction gaps.
Safe Health Site Timmins (SHST) is slated to close on March 31. At today's Timmins Police Service Board meeting, acting deputy chief Darren Dinel said police have been asked to help with harm reduction opportunities.
"The most notable one that we’re exploring is naloxone distribution. We’re open 24 hours a day, so if somebody needs to come pick up a naloxone kit for family, friends, whatever the case may be, we’re exploring that to see if we meet the regulatory requirements and that we can set that up,” he said.
Naloxone is a medication that can temporarily reverse the effects of an opioid overdose.
The closure of the safe consumption site is due to lack of funding.
For the most part, the site has been funded by the City of Timmins, with Timmins and District Hospital — which operates the site — stepping up to cover from Jan. 1 - March 31, 2024.
Last year, SHST received approval for a permanent facility from Health Canada, which allowed it to apply to the province for funding.
Right after receiving the federal nod, Ontario paused all new funding applications for safe consumption sites to allow for a review of the facilities after a woman was hit by a stray bullet and killed outside of a Toronto site. That review has not been completed yet.
