SURREY, B.C.—Fraser Health has agreed to open a pop-up overdose prevention site in Maple Ridge after protesters forced their way into the health authority’s head office in Surrey on Tuesday morning, according to activists.

But according to an email statement Tuesday evening, the health authority clarified no it had not made any firm commitments during the meeting.

This comes after about two dozen anti-poverty advocates set up an unsanctioned overdose prevention site last week in a tent next to the Maple Ridge modular housing project on Royal Crescent.

It was open for 30 minutes until RCMP officers blocked off vehicle and pedestrian access to the street and organizers it down that evening.

An overdose prevention site is a place where people can use illicit drugs with a trained witness nearby who can deliver the antidote naloxone or other care if necessary.

Shortly before 11 a.m. on Tuesday, seven Maple Ridge residents and two anti-poverty advocates staged a sit-in at Fraser Health’s corporate office.

Chants of “no more deaths” and “shame” echoed in the lobby as staff walked through.

About five minutes after walking into the reception, protesters forced their way through a door and into the offices. They continued chanting and told staff they would not leave until they could meet with executives.

When the RCMP arrived, protesters negotiated a meeting where they reached an agreement with health authority officials: protesters would not set up another unsanctioned overdose prevention site and the health authority agreed to set one up in the near future.

The two groups are meeting June 24 to talk about the details.

“It’s baby steps,” said housing advocate Ivan Drury, one of the organizers, adding that the meeting was encouraging and the executives were friendly.

“I am hopeful they will come back and do their job — to open an (overdose prevention site) and develop a supervised consumption site is their job as a health authority.”

Fraser Health would not confirm its arrangement with the protesters, sending an emailed statement that read:

“Today, we met with advocates and people with lived experience to hear their concerns. We heard some heart-wrenching stories of suffering and loss and we can’t forget that the overdose crisis is impacting people’s lives in communities across the province.”

For Amy Courtepatte, whose partner died of an overdose in April, the protest was personal.

“I miss him a lot,” said Courtepatte, a tear running down her face. “He would be alive today if there was an injection site. That’s why I’m so passionate about this.”

The week before her partner died, they were looking at wedding venues.

“I don’t use, but I told him I wanted him to be safe,” she said. “He went out one day and he never came back. He died alone, by himself.”

Courtepatte had never participated in a protest until last week, when activists set up their own overdose prevention site next to the modular housing project.

Drury said drug users in Maple Ridge don’t have access to a supervised injection site unless they are tenants or clients at one of two supportive housing projects, Alouette Heights and the modular housing location at Royal Crescent.

Earlier this spring, Star Vancouver spent several days with Maple Ridge residents experiencing homelessness and observed them using drugs in several places, including in a parking lot and behind an apartment building. They said it was a constant challenge to find a private place to safely use drugs.

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Data from the BC Coroners Service shows the majority of overdose deaths happen inside, where people are isolated and there are no bystanders to help. In 2018, nearly nine in 10 overdose deaths occurred in houses and social or supportive housing.

A study from the B.C. Centre for Disease Control published last week in the journal Addiction showed 2,177 people died of overdoses in B.C. between April 2016, when B.C. declared a public health emergency, and December 2017.

Researchers looked at the impact of B.C.’s harm-reduction efforts such as the take-home naloxone program, as well as addictions treatment and the expansion of overdose prevention sites, and estimated that all three combined saved more than 3,000 lives.

Clarification – June 12, 2019: The headline on this article was edited from a previous version. The previous version did not make clear that the activists, not, Fraser Health, stated that an agreement had been reached.

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