Vestry motion supports harm reduction services

On Oct. 1, 2018, a group of activists, front-line workers and church members placed 1,265 wooden crosses on the lawn in front of the provincial legislature at Queen’s Park. Each cross represented a life lost to opioid overdose in Ontario in the previous year. The demonstration urged the provincial government to permit the continued operation and expansion of supervised consumption sites in the province.

Six years and a pandemic later, the need is greater than ever. Since 2016, the overdose crisis has claimed the lives of more than 26,000 Ontarians, surpassing the number of people in the province who have died from COVID-19. On average, this is more than seven deaths every day. And this number would be still higher if not for the tireless work of the 25 supervised consumption sites across the province.

Supervised consumption sites, or SCS, operate from a harm reduction approach, with the primary goal of keeping people alive and avoiding overdose deaths. While these sites do not supply illicit drugs, they allow people to use previously obtained illicit drugs under the supervision of registered nurses, nurse practitioners and peer support workers. They provide sterile supplies and overdose prevention and management, as well as low-barrier access to other health and social support services. Since March 2020 these sites have reversed more than 22,000 overdoses – each one a life saved – while no deaths have been reported in any of the SCS since they were opened. A study in The Lancet even found that overdose mortality decreased by 67 per cent in Toronto neighbourhoods with supervised consumption sites, while neighbourhoods without these sites showed no such decreases.

Yet last August, the provincial government announced a ban on supervised consumption sites within 200 metres of schools and childcare centres. On Nov. 18, the province introduced Bill 223, which, in addition to implementing this geographic ban, prohibits municipalities or any other organizations from starting up new sites. As a result, 10 sites are slated to close by March 31, five of which are in Toronto and five in other communities outside our diocese. Another Toronto SCS, the Moss Park site on Sherbourne Street, will also close, as the location is subject to redevelopment, and a move to a new location would count as a “new” site under the ban.

The provincial government has claimed that these sites must be closed to protect children and families from increased crime, but it has not cited any data other than anecdotal evidence to support these claims. Analysis of nine years of Toronto Police Service data tells a different story – that the rates of homicide, assault and robbery have decreased to a modest but significant degree in neighbourhoods with SCS since the sites were opened, compared to neighbourhoods without sites. Rates of break-and-enter initially increased in all neighbourhoods after sites were opened before declining in both neighbourhoods with sites and those without them.

The fact remains that supervised consumption sites are located in areas where there is already a high incidence of drug use. Closing the sites will not result in an end to drug use; rather, it will result in more public drug use, more discarded needles and other drug paraphernalia, and more overdoses – and fatalities – in public spaces, from parks and sidewalks to coffee shop restrooms. This is a far cry from the “safer streets” the province hopes to achieve. In addition, by providing naloxone and oxygen promptly to people experiencing overdoses, safe consumption sites reduce the strain on first responders and emergency services. Without these sites, response times for emergency medical services will only increase. This puts all Ontarians in danger.

The province has announced its intention to invest some $378 million to open 19 Homelessness and Addiction Recovery Treatment (HART) hubs across the province. Investment in supportive housing and treatment options is always welcome, but the scale of this investment is still far below what is needed to meet the need. Moreover, HART hubs will be excluded from offering harm reduction services and even needle exchange programs, established medical practices that have been proven to reduce mortality not only from drug use but also from HIV, hepatitis C and other blood-borne diseases and infections.

Harm reduction is not the antithesis of treatment for substance abuse but part of a full continuum of care. Supervised consumption sites provide a non-judgemental place where people who use drugs can be met where they are, with dignity, compassion and care, whether or not they are ready or able to seek treatment. They serve those who have the greatest barriers to accessing health care, supportive housing and, yes, addictions treatment. Across Ontario, such sites have already made more than 530,000 service referrals, including to housing, case management and substance use treatment services. Moreover, they offer a sense of community that can help people stabilize and rebuild their lives.

Vancouver-based physician Gabor Maté points out, “No human being is ever beyond redemption. The possibility of renewal exists so long as life exists. How to support that possibility in others and in ourselves is the ultimate question.”

As Christians, we too affirm that no human being is beyond redemption, and we look for the opportunity to support that possibility in others as well as in ourselves. Supporting safe consumption services in our communities, along with increased access to housing and treatment options, is one of the ways we can meet the complex needs of some of the most vulnerable people in our society.

This winter, the members of the Social Justice and Advocacy Committee encourage parishes in our diocese to consider our social justice vestry motion in support of harm reduction services in Ontario. We encourage parishes to look at the evidence in support of safe consumption sites. But beyond this, we encourage Anglicans across our diocese to consider how Jesus met those on the margins of society with compassion and respect, how he is close to the suffering and the broken-hearted, and how in him we are all given new life and new chances. May we take every opportunity to extend his compassion, respect and grace to all our neighbours.

The social justice vestry motion is available at www.toronto.anglican.ca/vestry-motion.