additionally, says suzanne obiorah, somerset west community health centre’s executive director, the very reason the centre was selected in 2017 to offer cts was because the community already had the second-highest rate of overdose deaths and the second-highest rate of blood-borne infections in the city. in other words, the supervised injection site didn’t create the problem.
still, we need to ask: are parents of schoolchildren upset about the site’s proximity to schools, or even the existence of harm reduction programs?
neither ottawa-carleton district school board trustee justine bell, in whose somerset/kitchissippi zone 10 the health centre is located, nor school board chair lynn scott — cambridge avenue public school is close by — responded to my queries.
suzanne obiorah is executive director of the somerset west community health centre.
tony caldwell
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postmedia
i did speak with a handful of parents in the affected neighbourhood.
“it’s a double-edged sword,” said one resident who only identified himself as tyler, a father of a 10- and a 14-year-old. he’s glad that the consumption site is there, “because it does help.”
at the same time, he worries about the congregation of drug users. “the kids ask what’s going on; that’s good because it opens up a conversation, but trying to explain to your children that there are addicts, and some are aggressive about asking for things. i’ve been in the neighbourhood for about 20 years, and it’s getting more congregated here. i think these sites just put a band-aid on the problem.”