‘Higher likelihood of more overdoses’: Supporters regret loss of London’s supervised consumption site

Officials with Carepoint are bracing for the safe consumption facility's closure next month. CTV’s Bryan Bicknell explains.

It is a lifeline for those who depend on it.

But London’s Carepoint supervised consumption service will, in a few weeks, no longer exist. It’s devastating news for supporters like Kyla Craig.

“It’s very important because we don’t want anybody dying any more,” she said.

The provincial government has ended funding for all remaining supervised consumption sites, including Carepoint. The York Street facility receives $1.85 million per year to operate.

Carepoint says that last year it recorded more than 15,000 visits and responded to 218 overdoses.

Martin McIntosh, the executive director the Regional HIV/AIDS Connection, which oversees the site, says without supervised consumption there will be more overdoses, including fatalities.

“Given that we have seen many, many overdoses reversed here, our care and concern is that with no-one there to respond, that there will be a higher likelihood of more overdoses in relation to the service no longer being available,” McIntosh warned.

In place of supervised consumption, the province has introduced HART hubs (homelessness and addiction recovery treatment hubs), an abstinence-based recovery model, including one at London’s Salvation Army Centre of Hope.

“They do very different pieces,” explained McIntosh.

“Recognizing that HART hubs do not have any harm reduction programming with it. So, people can’t use substances and or obtain gear or opioid response tools, such as naloxone,” he said.

In 2018, London became home to the province’s first temporary overdose prevention site, paving the way for other sites across Ontario. It became permanent at the current York Street location in 2023.

But not everyone believes it was a good fit for the neighbourhood.

Elyas Samano owns nearby Picadilly Motors and says the site attracts drug users, who don’t necessarily attend the facility.

“They put the facility here, and then I can see all the guys they use the drugs beside the fence of the school. You know what I’m saying. They don’t walk to the facility to do it. They do it right on the side of the school there,” he said.

Carepoint will cease providing supervised consumption services as of June 13.

McIntosh says it will continue to operate from the York Street location for the time being, providing other services like safer substance use supplies, along with health and social supports.

McIntosh says 27 out of 72 staff members will lose their jobs.