Interior Health delays opening of Nelson, B.C.'s 1st supervised drug inhalation site following backlash

The Interior Health Authority has decided to delay its opening of the first supervised inhalation site in Nelson, B.C., after local residents raised safety concerns.

The decision Thursday came just one day after announcing the supervised inhalation site would be open at the Nelson Friendship Outreach Clubhouse on Friday and Saturday nights, starting this week.

The authority had intended to operate the site in collaboration with the AIDS Network Outreach and Support Society (ANKORS) and the Rural Empowered Drug Use Network (REDUN), harm-reduction organizations based in the Kootenays.

There are currently two overdose prevention sites in Nelson, a 346-kilometre drive southeast of Kelowna: one operated by by ANKORS at 101 Baker St., and another by the non-profit Nelson CARES at 521 Vernon St.

Both supervise for drug injection, not inhalation, and are located near restaurants and other businesses downtown.

'Very disturbing situation'

A local group expressed concerns about the proximity of the proposed supervised inhalation site — at 818 Vernon St. downtown — to facilities for children and seniors, including the Nelson Soccer Association and Nelson Seniors Centre Society.

Tanya Finley, a mother of two and owner of a restaurant just 200 metres away from the proposed supervised inhalation site, said she and other citizens have raised safety concerns with Interior Health, the city, and Nelson-Creston MLA Brittny Anderson.

Finley criticized Interior Health for not conducting sufficient public consultation before announcing the opening of the supervised inhalation site. She cited a recent meeting with the authority, where concerned citizens were given six minutes to ask questions about the site.

"My ask to Interior Health is to pause on all future expansion [of overdose prevention services] right now, while they figure out and manage the already troublesome and very disturbing situation that they have [an inhalation site] in close proximity to children," she said on CBC's Daybreak South Wednesday.

Interior Health, however, said a supervised inhalation site is necessary, with drug inhalation accounting for the majority of illicit drug toxicity deaths in the city over the past few years.

Data from the B.C. Coroners Service indicates the number of illicit drug toxicity deaths in Nelson have been increasing since the province declared the toxic drug crisis a public emergency in April 2016, with the city's death rate per 100,000 people increasing from 18.9 in 2016 to 38.9 in 2022.

'I'm sick of everyone I know dying': peer worker

Holly Trider, a peer worker at ANKORS, expressed frustration upon hearing about the authority's decision to delay the supervised inhalation site's opening.

"I'm sick of everyone I know dying," Trider said on Thursday.

"I had to go around and tell our peer workers, and the people who were excited about the service [learned] that it wasn't going to be happening … people were crying, people were screaming."

Trider, a mother herself, emphasized parents' responsibility for ensuring their children's safety, instead of looking solely to the supervised drug consumption sites or their providers.

She also urged parents not to stigmatize individuals struggling with drug addiction.

Tiffany Teal, co-ordinator of REDUN, refuted claims that Interior Health had not conducted public consultations. 

"There were meetings that went on months and months ago without us [non-profits] even attending — between the mayor, the neighbours, then the mayor and IH, and then our MLA, Brittny Anderson, IH and concerned citizens," Teal said.

In an emailed statement to CBC News, B.C.'s Ministry of Mental Health and Addictions said while the province does not have a legal requirement for public consultations to establish supervised drug consumption sites, efforts are ongoing to balance neighbourhood security with the urgent need for substance use services.

In an interview with Bounce Radio, a local media outlet, Nelson Mayor Janice Morrison said the city had not engaged in discussions with Interior Health regarding the opening date of the supervised inhalation site, and had limited information about the site prior to the health authority's announcement of its Friday opening.

No exact date for site opening

Interior Health, however, said they have always been in consultation with the city regarding the provision of supervised drug inhalation services at the Nelson Friendship Outreach Clubhouse. 

Lannon de Best, executive director of clinical operations for Kootenay Boundary at Interior Health, defended the health authority over criticisms it acted hastily in delaying the site's opening.

De Best said the decision to open on May 12, then postpone the opening date, had been extensively deliberated upon.

"I think the place that we have arrived at is there's still an opportunity for us to take a couple of more steps, and we're committed to do that," he said Friday on Daybreak South.

De Best did not say when the new opening date for the supervised drug inhalation site would be, but that Interior Health is working within a timeline of a few weeks.