Alberta's top court has dismissed an appeal from harm reduction advocates who tried to stop a provincial policy that requires people who want to use a supervised drug-injection site to provide their health-card number to get inside.The Alberta Court of Appeal heard the emergency request on Friday after a judge denied an application earlier this month that would have immediately suspended the requirement.
Moms Stop the Harm and the Lethbridge Overdose Prevention Society, the two non-profit societies that were challenging the Alberta government, argued that the requirement to provide a health-care number could increase barriers to the sites and increase the risk of overdoses. The Appeal Court judges said the central issue is whether the two advocacy groups met the test for an injunction.
"[Government lawyers] have confirmed that Alberta Health has directed that while requesting a personal health number is mandatory at intake, no person will be denied service if they refuse to comply," the decision says. Mike Ellis, associate minister of mental health and addictions, said the regulations are aimed to implement quality standards for supervised consumption services.
A safe drug injection site? What kind of bullshit is this. Aren't the drugs they are injecting illegal? Seize the drugs at the door and offer help. Don't enable people to kill themselves with supervision.
Shame. The site won't be used then and Kenney can claim it didn't work and shut it down. Over before it began.
Wow! Disgusting decision.
This is just bureaucratic red tape nonsense. What you should want to do, what you need to do, is help these folks, whether they've got a health-card on them or not! We are losing Canadian lives, many of them young, because of this disastrous drug situation.
When you have supervised drug injection sites, you have failed government and a failed society.