NEWS RELEASE
SIMCOE MUSKOKA DISTRICT HEALTH UNIT
******************************
BARRIE – Space in the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA) Simcoe Branch facility at 90 Mulcaster Street in Barrie has been identified as the location for the community’s proposed supervised consumption site (SCS).
CMHA’s board of directors was notified of the site choice at a meeting on Monday, April 15.
The search for prospective locations was carried out by a committee with representatives from the Gilbert Centre, CMHA, the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit and other partners from the harm reduction pillar of the Simcoe Muskoka Opioid Strategy (SMOS).
A number of factors were considered, including provincial guidelines, best practices for locating supervised consumption sites, proximity to sensitive land uses (i.e. schools, parks, and licensed child care centres, and preliminary results of the recent Barrie SCS community consultations.
“Supervised consumption is a foundation of the opioid strategy’s harm reduction efforts,” said Nancy Roxborough, executive director of the Canadian Mental Health Association Simcoe Branch. “The option of 90 Mulcaster is an excellent fit for this service. Being located with CMHA connects it to the important mental health and addiction treatment services provided by our association, and it’s next door to the David Busby Centre, which provides outreach and support services for individuals and families within the County of Simcoe who are experiencing homelessness or at risk of homelessness.”
A neighbourhood information meeting will be held in May for local residents and businesses of the surrounding area. Neighbours will receive more information about this meeting in the coming weeks.
Selecting a location is part of the ongoing application process for a supervised consumption site in Barrie. Endorsement of the application by Barrie City Council will be sought at their meeting on June 3. Following that, the application must be submitted to the federal government for exemption from the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act and to the provincial government for their approval for funding.
Final results of the recent supervised consumption site public consultations are to be released in early May.
For current updates on the SCS application status, upcoming events and report releases visit www.smdhu.org/scs.
*****************************
