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Public meetings on supervised consumption site in Red Deer scheduled for August

Aug 1, 2017 | 2:05 PM

Red Deerians can soon have their say about the potential future of a supervised consumption site in our city.

At the end of July, the Red Deer Coalition on the Opioid Crisis provided Alberta Health with a snapshot of the early findings determined by a study on the need for a supervised injection site in Red Deer.

Current findings are limited and the coalition has until the end of September to provide a broader overview of what is needed here.

Sarah Fleck, Interim Operational Manager at Turning Point, says nine community discussion events are scheduled for August. The dates are as follows:

1) Tuesday, August 8 from 6 to 8 p.m. at the downtown library
2) Wednesday, August 9 from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. at Red Deer College
3) Thursday, August 10 from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. at the Collicutt Centre
4) Tuesday, August 15 from 6 to 8 p.m. at Red Deer College
5) Wednesday, August 16 from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. at the downtown library
6) Thursday, August 17 from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. at Johnstone Crossing AHS building
7) Tuesday, August 22 from 6 to 8 p.m. at Johnstone Crossing AHS building
8) Wednesday, August 23 from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. at the Collicutt Centre
9) Thursday, August 24 from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. at the downtown library

“I think as part a new service being provided in our community, we really want to be transparent with the community, first of all about what’s going on, about the concerns that we are seeing and about the issues that have arose and that have brought us to this point,” Fleck says.

“We also want to give everybody a voice to be able to voice their opinion, their concerns and then give us the opportunity to address some of their concerns with regards to community safety and crime and some other concerns that are common with this project.”

Red Deer had the highest rate of fentanyl and other opioid-related drug overdoses in the province of Alberta in 2016.

Attendance is by pre-registration only. To register for a session, email scsc@turningpoint-ca.org.