OTTAWA—The federal government has dropped the requirement for provincial approval to open supervised drug consumption sites, a move that many see as a way around recent changes in Ontario that capped the number of life-saving facilities set up to address the opioid crisis.

“We want to make sure that there are no barriers to establishing these services in communities where they are needed,” said Thierry Bélair, press secretary to federal Health Minister Ginette Petitpas Taylor.

“We have approved over 25 supervised consumption sites and provided emergency treatment funding to provinces hardest hit by the crisis. We will continue to take action in collaboration with our partners to save lives.”

The changes — first reported Friday by the Globe and Mail — came into effect earlier this fall, and notice was sent to various health organizations on Nov. 30, Bélair said.

The changes mean municipalities, local health authorities and non-profit groups no longer need a “letter of support” from a provincial health minister to open a supervised drug consumption site. Health Canada will also consider new funding models for future sites, including money from private sources, Bélair said.

Hakique Virani, an assistant clinical professor and public health specialist at the University of Alberta, welcomed the changes. Even though he wants Ottawa to decriminalize drugs—a solution he said could ensure a safer, government-regulated supply of deadly opioids—Virani said the changes will let those who want to open new sites circumvent “ideological” barriers to new sites in Ontario.

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A year ago, in a bid to prevent deadly opioid overdoses that have rocked communities across Canada, the federal government started letting provinces and territories open their own “overdose prevention sites.” These sites operate under a temporary exemption to address the “urgent” need for safe and supervised drug consumption during the opioid crisis, and can be set up without going through the more onerous approval process for a federal “supervised consumption site.”

Ontario’s former Liberal government approved several of these new overdose prevention sites. When Doug Ford’s Progressive Conservatives took power, they put the sites under review. In October, provincial Health Minister Christine Elliott announced a series of changes to how the sites would operate. These included new requirements for site operators to have a plan to address community concerns about their existence, and connect drug users with health and social services. The province also ruled the sites could no longer be within 600 metres of each other, and capped the number of sites allowed in the province at 21.

The changes drew criticism from health advocates and community groups, who argued the cap could put drug users in some areas at risk and said the new rules added requirements that compromised the easy-to-set-up, rapid-response purpose of the new sites.

In a statement, Elliott’s spokesperson Hayley Chazan defended the Ford government’s changes to the temporary consumption sites. She did not respond to questions about Ottawa’s decision to allow federal consumption sites to open without provincial approval.

“Our government’s overriding priority is to ensure that all efforts to combat opioid addiction are designed to introduce people into rehabilitation and that those struggling with addiction get the help they need,” she said. “This is a critical first step as we move forward in developing a comprehensive and connected mental health and addictions strategy.”

But while that change might pave the way for new sites, Virani said more is required to effectively tackle the opioid crisis. “If anybody is under the illusion that this solves the opioid epidemic, they’re mistaken,” he said.

Sarah Ovens, an organizer with the Toronto Overdose Prevention Society, said it’s not clear whether Ontario’s new regulations around its temporary sites will apply to facilities approved under the federal protocol. And while Ottawa has opened the door to new funding models, Ovens said the opioid crisis demands a clearer cash commitment from the government for new consumption sites.

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“We’re still in a crisis. The crisis is still escalating month over month,” she said. “We don’t have time to fundraise.”

This week, the Public Health Agency of Canada reported that 2,066 Canadians died from opioid overdoses in the first half of 2018. The powerful synthetic opioid fentanyl and “other fentanyl-related substances continue to be a major driver of this crisis,” the agency reported. The prescription form of the drug is used during surgery and given to patients dying of cancer. What has contaminated the street supply is largely the illicit forms of the drug. What makes it so dangerous is that drug users can’t know how strong it is until they consume it.

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