The city’s chief medical officer of health is proposing three supervised injection sites between Queen West and Leslieville, saying they will halt the rising number of overdose deaths.

The sites, proposed to be part of “well-established” community health centres, are in areas where injection drug use and overdose rates are higher than average, Dr. David McKeown told a news conference Monday. Those sites are currently the busiest hubs for sterile needle distribution, representing three quarters of all needles handed out — nearly 1.9 million last year.

“These are essentially preventable deaths and we must do more to save the lives of these vulnerable members of our community,” McKeown said. “I believe this type of health service is needed in Toronto to reduce the unnecessary deaths and disease transmission that are impacting so many lives.”

The sites being proposed are the Queen West Central Toronto Community Health Centre on Bathurst St.; the Works at Toronto Public Health’s building on Victoria St.; and the South Riverdale Community Health Centre on Queen St. East near Carlaw Ave.

A report to the city’s board of health to be debated March 21 asks that a co-ordinated consultation in the affected communities be launched — a legal requirement before the federal health minister can approve their existence.

Federal rules require any potential operator of a supervised injection site to apply for exemption under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act.

If approved, the sites would allow drug users to bring in their own illicit drugs to be injected under the supervision of a nurse, before moving to a “chill out” room to be monitored for overdose.

McKeown said the sooner these sites can open the better. The plan now before the board of health looks to report back on public and stakeholder consultations in July. The earliest an application could be submitted to Ottawa would be early this fall, McKeown said.

Where the sites are

While federal rules changed under the previous Conservative government require wide-ranging consultation, including seeking the view of police leadership and the local community, none of those groups need to explicitly consent for Ottawa to sign-off.

Those health centres looking to expand their services say the number of overdose deaths in Toronto — reaching an all-time high of 206 in 2013 — highlight the overwhelming need for these services.

“If 206 people died each year from a plane crash, wouldn’t we do something about it?” asked Lynne Raskin, the CEO of the South Riverdale clinic.

She and her counterpart at the Queen West site, Angela Robertson, stressed those using the sites would mostly be their existing clients and that the service would be “discretely” embedded with no external renovations or expansion.

Peter Leslie, a former paramedic who became homeless and began using injection and other drugs, said he’s used the existing harm reduction services offered by the Works and South Riverdale and sees a large need for supervised injection.

“It’s not just homeless people, it transcends class,” said Leslie, who is now a harm reduction worker at the Works and board member at the Queen West clinic. “There are certain risks for injection drug users and they’re probably more at risk than the community itself . . . It’s really an epidemic.”

McKeown said research has proven these types of sites reduce negative impacts associated with drug use in the communities they serve and that there is little evidence of increased criminal activity.

Councillor Joe Cressy, who chairs the Toronto Drug Strategy Implementation Panel, said many of these communities — including his own downtown ward of Trinity-Spadina — already have an issue with needles being found in public.

“The sooner we act the more lives will be saved and the fewer needles will be in our street,” he said. “It’s time.”

At an unrelated news conference Monday, Mayor John Tory urged “rational” debate but stopped short of endorsing the medical officer of health’s report.

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“This is a consultation that I’m going to be looking at with very keen interest to see that what are very substantial public health and public safety issues are properly addressed in coming to whatever decision we come to,” he said. “Clearly we have to do something in addition to what we’re presently doing.”

Last year, police spokesperson Mark Pugash told the Globe and Mail that Chief Mark Saunders believed supervised injection sites cause “enormous damage” to neighbourhoods.

On Monday, Pugash said Saunders is participating in the consultation, but is not yet weighing in on whether he’ll be support the sites.

“Chief Saunders needs more information before he can comment on this,” Pugash said.