Jason Kenney has had his eye on safe injection sites for quite some time. During the 2019 provincial election, he sparred with the NDP over their support for the addiction recovery facilities. Once elected, Premier Kenney promptly froze funding for supervised drug consumption sites.

On Wednesday, Kenney took to Twitter to blast the sites, asserting that they bring with them increases in crime and anti-social behaviour. Shortly after, the Premier also announced that his government may shutter some safe consumption sites.

More and more data confirms that the NDP drug sites have hit local communities with an increase in crime and anti-social behaviour.



We can’t ignore the social and economic impact.https://t.co/Rn2rmoI6eZ — Jason Kenney (@jkenney) January 22, 2020

These claims, however, are problematic at best. The article that accompanies Mr.Kenney’s tweet cites a study by Dr. Em Pijl. Her work explores the experiences of business owners in Lethbridge where a supervised consumption site was introduced. Moreover, her study does not actually support the Premier’s claims.

The source of data for the study was only from surveys of “perceptions & observations of social disorder.” In general practice, only the most motivated will participate, so there are inherent biases in the study, outlined by the author explicitly. Other limitations of this study: pic.twitter.com/cmBQREWJbU — Dr. Wing Kar Li (@karliwithakay) January 23, 2020

As Dr. Wing Kar Li points out, the study only analyzes data about people’s perceptions of crime and social disorder. Statistics about the actual rates of crime and disorder and not included.

Dr. Pijl herself clarifies the many limitations of the study. For one, the sample captured only a very small and specific group: business owners and operators in downtown Lethbridge. As she puts it, “the focus group data may be biased with negative opinions.” She even admits that the sample employed by the study precludes it from directly attributing these changed perceptions to the safe injection site.

Secondly, the opioid crisis itself is inseparable from the study of the safe consumption site. That is, it is not easily discernible whether it is the drug crisis itself, or the new facility, that is triggering these changes in perceptions.

This one study may indicate a loose relationship between safe consumption sites and negative consequences. However, a systematic review of 75 studies has different findings. The academic consensus appears to be that safe consumption sites are not linked to an increase in addiction, trafficking or crime.

Other experts have jumped in to show the positive results of safe consumption sites. Elaine Hyshka, an assistant professor of public health, made the case in a twitter thread.

Between 2015 and 2019 the # of Albertans engaged in (gold standard) medication treatments for opioid use disorder grew from ~4200 to ~11,000; and AHS added 4000 new treatment spaces across the province. https://t.co/Ek6YWSt7qt pic.twitter.com/4HFd7vdUJW — Elaine Hyshka (@ehyshka) January 22, 2020

The province also opened 7 community-based supervised consumption services, which have collectively supervised over 307,793 visits with 0 deaths and 4587 overdoses reversed as of Sept. 30 2019. pic.twitter.com/ih37QWTgG8 — Elaine Hyshka (@ehyshka) January 22, 2020

Studies show safe consumption sites are an invaluable tool in harm reduction. In communities facing the opioid crisis, the data is clear that safe injection sites save lives.

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