[URBAN NOTE] "Toronto approves three supervised injection sites"

[rfmcdonald]

The National Post reports on the good news.

Toronto city council has approved three supervised injection sites in the city.

Council voted 36-3 Thursday to support supervised injection services at existing health-care facilities in downtown Toronto.

The services are aimed at providing a safe and hygenic environment where people can inject pre-obtained drugs under a nurse’s supervision.

Earlier this month, Toronto’s board of health unanimously accepted a recommendation for three small-scale supervised injection sites.

Between 2004 and 2014 there was a 77 per cent increase in the reported number of people dying from overdoses in Toronto, according to a report presented to the board of health.

The three sites will be set up at Toronto Public Health, east of Yonge and Dundas on Victoria Street; the Queen West-Central Toronto Community Health Centre on Bathurst, south of Queen Street West; and the South Riverdale Community Health Centre, on Queen Street East, just east of Carlaw Avenue.