Following an announcement from Ontario’s Minister of Health that the province will close 10 supervised consumption services (SCS) sites across the province, RNAO CEO Dr. Doris Grinspun told CBC News’ Power & Politics (Aug. 20) that more people will die and communities will be overburdened. “The government knows very well that not everybody is ready for treatment,” Grinspun said. And while RNAO welcomes the newly announced Homelessness and Addiction Recovery (HART) Hubs, as these will provide mental health and social services, “…we were expecting also an expansion of SCS and CTS (consumption treatment services).” The closure of these 10 SCS sites means persons will be using substances alone in alleyways, and that’s a death sentence for them, given the high level of toxic drugs circulating, Grinspun said. Drug toxicity killed 3,800 people in 2023, and that number will go up in 2024, she warned. In addition to more deaths, the decision to exclude SCS and needle exchange from the new HART hubs will lead to a rise in HIV and hepatitis C infections, as people will be injecting with used needles, which will be left in our streets, parks, coffee shops and parking lots, thus also making communities more unsafe. The failed policy will place a burden on paramedics and emergency departments. “It will cost a fortune in taxpayers dollars,” Grinspun said, noting the already overburdened health system will soon deal with a higher influx of people in crisis. “My heart sunk (at the news),” said RN Hannah Stahl, who works at an SCS site and co-leads Toronto’s Street Nurses Network. “When people fall through the cracks of the system, this (SCS) is what caught them,” she told the Toronto Star (Aug. 20). 

Sign RNAO’s Action Alert calling on Premier Doug Ford to withdraw his plan to gut and prohibit SCS sites in Ontario. And read more in Grinspun’s  Conversations with Members in this issue.