Next Wednesday! Supervised Consumption Services: The Time is Now

Details: Published on Friday, 01 April 2016 16:30; Written by editor

Dear supporters of SCS in Victoria,

Last month the BC coroner reported 465 illicit drug overdose deaths in 2015 - that's the highest rates of OD deaths in BC since 1998. Sixty-two of these deaths all took place in December, and eight of these deaths were in our Greater Victoria region alone. With continued reports of high rates of overdoses in Victoria, we're calling this a province-wide public health emergency. We're concerned that we're not seeing a much more focused and timely response to this emergency in Victoria.

Please join us next Wednesday (7PM at City Hall) to push for Supervised Consumption Services as an urgent local priority for preventing overdose deaths, and to call on Island Health and the Ministry of Health to allocate the resources needed to meet this pressing need.

The Time is Now: a public forum on Supervised Consumption Services in Victoria

Wednesday February 24
7p – 9pm (doors at 6:30pm)
City Hall Antechamber – 1 Centennial Square

With recent increases in overdose deaths in Victoria, and clear signs of support for SCS at federal, provincial and municipal levels of government, we’re saying: if not now, then when?

This forum is for sharing information AND for increasing the pressure on local institutions to pick up the pace. Every delay means more lives lost, and – with the highest overdose rate since 1998 - we have already seen too many. Now is the time for SCS in Victoria – let's work together to make this a reality in 2016.

Leslie McBain
Leslie lost her only child, her 25 year old son Jordan, to opioid misuse in 2014. She is a founding member of mumsDU, a harm reduction advocate, an activist for drug policy change, and a speaker on drug safety for youth.
www.mumsdu.com

Dr. Perry Kendall
Dr. Kendall is Provincial Health Officer for the Province of British Columbia and longtime supporter of Harm Reduction services.
http://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/health/about-bc-s-health-care-system/office-of-the-provincial-health-officer/biographies

Donovan Mahoney
Donovan is a former IV drug user, a Hot Yoga Teacher, a Photographer, and a DTES Activist.
http://donovanpee.com/

Sheldon Fox & Colin Cayer
Sheldon advises the yes2scs campaign from the perspective of a service user as part of yes2scs’s 8-member Peer Advisory Committee. Colin is a member of yes2scs’s volunteer-run Public Engagement Committee.
www.yes2scs.ca

We acknowledge that this event is taking place on traditional, unceded Lkwungen and WSÁNEĆ territories

More about the forum

yes2scs is a community campaign to ensure SCS are established and operating in Victoria in 2016. Our commitments include:
* facilitating a process to ensure adequate funding, appropriate services and locations, and a service provider who makes certain these services are trauma informed and culturally safe.
* continuing our work on the Federal Exemption process.
* continuing to work with all levels of government and key stakeholders on this goal and timeframe.
* ensuring people who use illicit drugs and organizations of people who use drugs are fully involved in these processes.
* recognizing the limits of SCS to prevent all OD deaths by continuing to respond to the harm caused by the criminalization of people who use drugs.

Support the implementation of supervised consumption services in Victoria
* Send letters to Island Health officials to demand action
* Join our growing list of supportive organizations
* Show your individual support by uploading a 'I support' photo
* Visit our website for resources about SCS
* Like and share content from our Facebook Page
* Follow us and re-tweet us on Twitter
* Email us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Web Version Forward r5
Powered by Mad Mimi®A GoDaddy® company