vancouver being urged to change indoor smoking ban at clinic for illicit drug users
3 minute read
we apologize, but this video has failed to load.
try refreshing your browser, or
tap here to see other videos from our team.
tap here to see other videos from our team.
health professionals are urging vancouver to make an exception to its indoor smoking ban. they say that without the exception the growing number of people who inhale illicit drugs will be at greater risk of dying due to lack of medical supervision.
while the city has banned smoking inside public buildings since 1986 over concerns of second-hand fumes, dr. julio montaner says a more imminent danger threatens residents.
“by turning away people who smoke it feels like we are condemning them to inject in isolation on the street — where they are dying.”
as director of b.c.’s centre for excellence in hiv/aids, the doctor is privy to the work of its downtown eastside vancouver walk-in clinic, which opened a supervised consumption site in 2019 and administers life-saving medicine to patients who overdose.
but montaner says he’s upset that the clinic, hope to health, is having to turn people away who opt to smoke their substances.
“some people choose to smoke because they were told it can ward off potential infection from using needles,” montaner said.
since 2017, smoking has continued to be the mode of consuming drugs that most often lead to death, according to the b.c. coroners service. while the injection of substances involved in overdose fatalities declined between 2016 and 2021, inhalation-related deaths rose from 29 per cent to 56 per cent.
advertisement
a report being presented to vancouver city council this week is recommending permission for a first-of-its-kind pilot project for the installation of six inhalation booths inside the 625 powell street foundation clinic. the project would cost $1.5 million.
“staff propose that a resolution not to enforce be limited to sites that have federal approval to offer supervised inhalation services,” reads the report, which recommends a two-year exemption to the existing no-smoking bylaw.
montaner says enclosed booths with ventilation systems will be installed at the clinic to ensure “any toxic fentanyl fumes go through filters before they reach the outside.”
in case of overdose, the system would rapidly increase negative air pressure inside the booth — with the press of a button — so that first-responders can enter and provide medical assistance to patients.
vancouver currently has four safe consumption sites that offer inhalation services outdoors. they’re being used more and more each year. in march, their combined monthly visitors reached a new high of 7,574, according to the b.c. centre for disease control.
“don’t get me wrong, as a former respiratory doctor, i support the city’s non-smoking bylaw in indoor places in general,” said montaner. “the difference here is that we’re asking for an exception so we can expand our harm reduction services, using them as an entry point to help patients to move along our continuum of services at whatever pace they are interested.”
advertisement
hope to health has on-site social workers who connect patients to long-term drug treatment, counselling and other health services.
“what we are trying to do here is to use this demonstration to guide the practices of the rest of the medical system into what works,” montaner said.
spring subscription sale: our in-depth journalism is possible thanks to the support of our subscribers. for a limited time, you can get full online access to the vancouver sun and the province, along with the national post and 13 other canadian news sites, for just $40 for one year or $1 a week for 52 weeks. support our journalism by subscribing today: the vancouver sun.
share story
