Majority back injection site: poll

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This article was published 01/07/2018 (2273 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

An overwhelming majority of city residents support a safe injection site for intravenous drug users in Winnipeg, a new poll from Probe Research shows.

The poll, which was commissioned by the Free Press, found 69 per cent of respondents were “generally in favour of a safe injection site” as opposed to 31 per cent, who were “generally opposed” to the idea.

Probe Research president Scott MacKay was surprised by how unequivocal the support was among the 600 adults surveyed from June 5 to 19.

“I really didn’t know what to expect here… if you’d asked me to bet, I wouldn’t have bet it was such a large consensus,” MacKay said. “I guess what it means is if the politicians are paying attention to the public will, which they’re supposed to be doing, or if there were ever any kind of referendum on such a thing, then this would easily pass.”

Women were more likely than men to support a safe injection site (74 per cent versus 62 per cent), as were lower-income respondents (80 per cent were supportive among the group that reported making an annual income of $30,000 or less).

So far, the provincial government has opposed the idea of introducing a safe injection site in Winnipeg. Health Minister Kelvin Goertzen reiterated that stance at a meeting of provincial health ministers Friday, but said he is open to the idea of a safe consumption site for those addicted to alcohol.

“We have to look at what makes sense in Manitoba. There’s been discussions not just about safe injection sites, but about consumption sites for alcohol, which I’m very interested in because I think that there’s a lot of evidence that shows in the Manitoba context … that there is a specific need there,” he said, noting 70 to 80 per cent of referrals to the Addictions Foundation of Manitoba are related to alcohol.

“So it’s not an issue of safe consumption or not, it’s an issue of where do you best place the resources that you have to help the most amount of people that you can help given the circumstances.”

A spokesperson for Goertzen had said earlier the minister couldn’t comment on the Probe poll results because of the July 17 byelection in St. Boniface. During a byelection, there is a blackout period that prevents the government from making announcements.

Mayor Brian Bowman said in a prepared statement he is focused on improving availability of treatment for those dealing with drug addiction and is “open to discussing the advantages and disadvantages of safe injection sites with government partners and community organizations, but he would prefer an evidence-based approach.”

“Ultimately, establishing a safe injection site would require support from the provincial government, and the province has indicated it is not moving forward with safe injection sites,” Bowman said.

Marion Willis, executive director of the non-profit St. Boniface Street Links, hopes the province will change its mind on installing safe injection sites.

“The economic health of this city and this province will always be contingent on the social health of the people. It’s been that way and it will always be that way, and it doesn’t matter where you go in this country,” she said.

“I think the public is becoming more and more frustrated with what we’re seeing there because the drug problems and alcohol problems in terms of visibility – it used to be a poor neighbourhood problem, but it’s not anymore. It’s in every single neighbourhood in the city. You can’t escape it… so the public has much more exposure. I think the public is hoping to understand and to support strategies that bring things under control.”

Street Links helps those on the streets overcome addictions and find housing. Willis said she wasn’t surprised by the Probe poll results, which reflect what she’s heard anecdotally from people in the city about safe injection sites.

“I think that generally the public in the world that I live in and the people that talk to me, generally they’re either supportive or they’re asking questions – and (that’s) not because they reject the notion. It’s because they’d like to know more,” Willis said.

“My experience has been, if you give people information, then people can make an informed decision. And when you have information, that information actually dispels a lot of the myths and the fears that some of the naysayers have.”

jessica.botelho@freepress.mb.caTwitter: @_jessbu