Londoners to weigh in on supervised consumption sites

Londoners will get their first opportunity to voice their concerns over a potential supervised consumption site on Tuesday.

The meeting is the first of nine in November as the Middlesex-London Health Unit looks to get feedback on the contentious issue.

Medical officer of health Dr. Chris Mackie says supervised consumption facilities address a variety of public health issues.

“It’s really helpful not only for the public health goals but the public order goals, it gets that injection behaviour off the streets and into a supervised environment.”

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Mackie adds these type of facilities also help to reduce needle waste. He says they are looking areas in the city that would be a good fit.

“We’re looking at neighbourhoods that are most affected by the problem now because those are the neighbourhoods that are going to benefit most from having this service.”

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Mackie says public consultation is an integral part of the process and they’re reaching out to communities and businesses associations to see what else they need to do to make this a success.

Tuesday’s meeting, from 6:30 p.m. until 9 p.m. at the Marconi Club, is the first of two this week. The health unit also launched an online survey in October that will be available until Dec. 15.

Community consultation meetings will be held at the following locations and times:

• Nov. 7: Marconi Club, 120 Clarke Rd., 6:30 p.m. – 9 p.m.
• Nov. 8: Canada Games Aquatic Centre, 1045 Wonderland Rd., 6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.
• Nov. 13: BMO Centre, 295 Rectory St., 6:30 p.m. – 9 p.m.
• Nov. 15: Goodwill Centre, 255 Horton St., 6:30 p.m. – 9 p.m.
• Nov. 21: Byron Recreation Centre, 1308 Norman Ave., 6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.
• Nov. 27: South London Community Centre, 585 Bradley Ave., 6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.
• Nov. 28, Middlesex County Building, 399 Ridout St. N., 6:30 p.m. – 9 p.m.
• Nov. 29: Stronach Community Recreation Centre, 1221 Sandford St., 6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.
• Nov. 29: Stoney Creek Library, 920 Sunningdale Rd. E., 6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.