Coalition working to bring Supervised Consumption Services to Lethbridge
LETHBRIDGE – Increasing numbers of drug overdose deaths in Alberta, and specifically the south zone of our province, has prompted a local coalition to begin the process of applying to the federal government for a Supervised Consumption Services site.
“We are losing more people currently to overdose fatalities then we ever did at the height of the HIV epidemic,” stated Jill Manning, managing director at ARCHES (AIDS Outreach Community Harm Reduction Education Support) in Lethbridge.
She explained that in 2016, Alberta lost an average of one person everyday to overdose, adding that the problem is only getting worse.
“The results for the first quarter of 2017 reflect that our numbers are higher for that period than they were for the same period in 2016. If that continues, as we expect that it will, we’ll be at rates of losing two or more people a day.”