P.E.I.’s pause on safe injection site shows ‘lack of courage and commitment,’ says PEERS Alliance [Video]

The organization that was set to operate a supervised injection site in Charlottetown says it was “disheartened” and “surprised” to learn the province wouldn’t be continuing the project as planned. 

The provincial government said it would pause the creation of a safe injection site and instead prioritize strengthening its existing harm reduction initiatives.

“Unfortunately it does show a lack of courage and commitment to creating services that meet the needs of those vulnerable and complex Islanders,” said Tessa Rogers, harm reduction project manager with PEERS Alliance, the organization that would have operated the site.

Rogers said she’s glad provincial measures like take-home naloxone kits are being expanded, but they aren’t a substitute for an overdose prevention site.

“A lot of folks who didn’t necessarily sign up for the job of responding to opioid overdoses or any type of overdose or medical emergency [are] being put in positions where they feel that they need to,” she said. 

What happens at a supervised injection site? 

The …