Since the doors first opened in 2017, the supervised consumption site in Calgary has been a source of division for those in the Beltline neighbourhood.
Lauren Makaryk has been living in the Beltline for three years. She supports supervised consumption sites in Calgary, saying they’re necessary.
“There’s a bad taste in a lot of folks’ mouths regarding safe consumption sites,” said Makaryk. “People say it’s legalizing drug use, and really encouraging its ongoing prevalence in the city. It’s not; people are going to use anyways.”
Part of what shaped the way Makaryk feels is based on the the fact that she used to use drugs herself, and it took losing those she loved to find the strength to get clean.
“I stopped counting after 60,” Makaryk explained. “Both close friends, recreational users and hardcore addicts… that was enough.”
Her best friend was the first. Makaryk explained that even after testing his drugs to see if they were safe, he succumbed to drug poisoning because other portions of his drugs were contaminated with fentanyl.
There is no magic wand, no single pen stroke that can solve this issue, but Makaryk says supervised consumption sites play a role in it.
“The mental health structure in general needs work,” said Makaryk. “But I don’t think taking away things and saying we’ll do more… I think we all know that doesn’t happen, at least not at the speed or robustness that it really should to make a difference in the community.”
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Premier Danielle Smith seems to share that sentiment. Speaking in Lethbridge on Wednesday, she told Global News her government intends to conduct town halls in order to gather more public feedback.
“Once we hear directly from the community, start mapping out what a solution might look like, then we’re prepared to move in the same direction for every community,” explained Smith. “There’s going to be about a year-long transition process to find something better. That’s going to involve mobile units and more rapid response for EMS providers.”
Those changes can’t happen soon enough, though, for other residents in the area like Jeff Cotton, who for years has been asking for accountability from the site, city officials, and Calgary police.
“I call 911 more than the average person probably should, for various issues around the building,” Cotton said. “Everything from crime and disorder, drug use, loitering, two weeks ago we had someone set fire to our dumpster and almost burned our garage down.”
Data collected by the province shows in the first half of 2024, 830 Albertans died due to drug poisonings, 212 of them in Calgary. Those numbers are down significantly compared to 2023, when more than 1,200 Albertans died over the same period.
Out of those who died this year, more than 50 per cent happened within a private residence across the province, and 33 per cent died in public.
“I’ve had somebody die on my property. I’ve had overdoses on my property,” said Cotton. “A couple of them I’ve even saved their lives because I called 911. So you know how is this accountable? How are you being accountable for the problem that is being created?”
At this point, there is no set date on when future town halls may be held.
© 2024 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
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