An Edmonton group that’s closely studied local drug use is working to establish the city’s first supervised injection sites.

Elaine Hyshka, a University of Alberta public health researcher and core member of Access to Medically Supervised Injection Services Edmonton, said group members envision a network of supervised injection services offered through organizations already working with homeless and disadvantaged people in Edmonton’s core.

“This is something that’s long overdue in Edmonton and other cities,” said Hyshka. “This service will literally save lives.”

Data suggests injection drug use is on the rise, said Marliss Taylor, program manager for Streetworks, which co-ordinates needle exchange in Edmonton. The program handed out 1.4 million needles in its last fiscal year, and is on track to distribute 1.6 million this year.

“More and more over time I’m convinced that we do need (a safe injection service),” Taylor said.

Related: 'Wanna get high, man?' It's high time for a supervised injection site in Edmonton

To make her case, Hyshka completed a PhD project that offered one of the most comprehensive and current windows into the lives of street-involved Edmontonians who use drugs.

Supervised injection services provide sterile water and supplies to prevent spread of infection, and nurses on site to respond in event of an overdose.

Ninety-one per cent of the 320 people she interviewed in the spring and summer of 2014 had injected drugs in the previous six months. Although some used occasionally, most people who take opioids like morphine and hydromorphone inject drugs once or twice a day, and those who use stimulants, like crack cocaine or methamphetamine, can use seven or more needles a day.

Hyshka’s survey was done before Alberta’s spike in fentanyl overdoses, which killed 272 people in 2015.

A troubling finding for the public health researcher was the four in five people injecting drugs who did it in public, which substantially increases the risk of health complications. On the street, people often lack sterile water and supplies, which can cause infections leading to skin abscesses, hepatitis C, HIV, and other potentially fatal conditions.

More than a quarter of people Hyshka surveyed had shared a needle. That rate is nearly five times a recent count in Vancouver, which has two medically supervised injection sites.

Hyshka is more guarded when asked for the potential service’s operational details, like, which organizations could host the 24/7 service, how much it would cost, and who would pay for it. The group is still discussing options and finalizing the proposal.

Legislation introduced last year by the former federal Conservative government requires the group to complete a comprehensive checklist. It includes gathering community endorsements and providing evidence to gain an exemption under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act.

Hyshka said the federal government has indicated its willingness to be flexible with the current legislative requirements.

Efforts to create supervised injection services across the country that froze under an unsupportive Conservative government are now heating up since the Liberals gained office last October.

“It’s kind of a new world,” said Streetworks’ Taylor. She calls North America “constipated” in its approach to substance abuse compared to Europe, where supervised injection is widely available.

The proposal has fans on city council, including Edmonton Mayor Don Iveson. In an editorial board meeting with Postmedia Friday, he said evidence in favour of harm reduction is “crystal clear.”

“In every single case you save money in the health-care system, (and) reduce social disorder, which allows our police to go chase actual bad guys, and then you get the opportunity to intervene for people who are in serious distress, and, once in awhile, they can take an off-ramp, more likely than they’re going to take an off-ramp on the street,” Iveson said.

Alberta Health Minister Sarah Hoffman recently said her government is reviewing evidence in support of supervised injection services, though she warned not to expect decisions soon.

“We will be looking at the evidence and working with our community partners to figure out, if we are going to move forward, where the best places might be for supervised consumption,” Hoffman said.

More hesitant about the proposal is Maurice Brodeur, president of the Edmonton Police Association, which represents nearly 1,900 city police officers.

He questions where the drugs come from, what unknown substances could lurk in them, whether the surrounding community will have a say on where the services are located, and where people will go once they’ve used drugs. If a person has an overdose after using a supervised injection service, Brodeur wonders who would be liable.

Even if multiple sites offer supervised injection services, it’s unfair to concentrate that activity in any area, the police sergeant said.

“The neighbours are not going to be happy.”

The Edmonton Police Service did not respond to a request for comment Friday.

Supervised injection proponents say the perceived risk to neighbourhoods hosting the sites are overblown.

“There’s clear evidence these services do not increase crime in the area and do not increase substance abuse,” Hyshka said.

Building relationships with people who use the service can help redirect them into drug treatment programs. Vancouver’s Insite program recorded 3,418 people referred to clinical treatment programs in 2012, the most recent year for which statistics are available.

Taylor said detractors should be willing to try supervised injection services for a trial period, since the status quo isn’t working.

“It’s coming at some point. It’s just a logical, smart step that will help with public safety and public health.”

jfrench@postmedia.com

— With files from Max Maudie and Dave Breakenridge

Elaine Hyshka is part of a group of public health researchers writing a proposal for a network of supervised injection services.