Quebec to set 150-metre limit between schools and supervised injection sites [Video]

The Quebec government has tabled legislation that would ensure a minimum 150-metre distance between supervised injection sites and schools and daycares.

Social Services Minister Lionel Carmant says the bill would grant his department new powers to approve or refuse a new site allowing the supervised consumption of drugs.

The minister tabled the legislation following some controversy over Montreal’s first supervised drug-inhalation centre run by Maison Benoît Labre, a local non-profit.

The site provides a centre for people experiencing homelessness as well as a supervised drug-use site, not far from a local school.

The Quebec government is in favour of sites offering evidence-based harm reduction services and says it has a duty to provide safe spaces for everyone who uses the sites as well as those who live nearby.