Conservatives would close supervised drug consumption sites near schools, playgrounds: Poilievre [Video]

Supervised consumption sites are just “drug dens” that a future Conservative government would not fund and seek to close, Pierre Poilievre said Friday.

During a visit to a park near such a site in Montreal, Poilievre said he would shutter all locations near schools, playgrounds and “anywhere else that they endanger the public.”

“Radical bureaucrats don’t have the right to open these drugs dens anywhere they want,” he said.

The first supervised injection site opened in Vancouver more than 20 years ago.

The sites are intended to prevent overdoses by allowing people to bring their drugs to use under the observation of trained staff. They also provide access to clean supplies to reduce rates of HIV and other diseases, as well as offer referrals to users seeking treatment options.

Health Canada says more than 40,000 people have died from toxic drug deaths since 2016, when the agency began tracking these …