Kingston prison's supervised drug site has had just 1 visitor

More than a year-and-a-half aft it opened, a tract astatine a Kingston, Ont., situation wherever inmates tin devour smuggled drugs nether aesculapian supervision has lone had 1 user.

The overdose prevention work (OPS) astatine the Collins Bay Institution was acceptable up arsenic a spot wherever prisoners could inject, snort or swallow substances, each with a caregiver connected standby.

It opened connected Nov. 28, 2023, becoming the archetypal of its benignant successful Ontario and lone the 3rd successful Canada. (Two much OPS sites person opened since).

Five radical who applied have been approved to usage the tract truthful far, but conscionable 1 has really done so, and that inmate has lone utilized it a fistful of times, opening successful April, CBC has learned.

"There's ever going to beryllium a spot of a level of distrust, particularly with a caller programme specified arsenic this and a cardinal alteration to however we are supporting idiosyncratic surviving with addictions," said Matthew Secord, manager of wellness and rehabilitation astatine Collins Bay.

Secord described the first sojourn arsenic "a surreal moment," adding it takes "quite a spot of bravery and courage" to effort thing caller — particularly wrong a prison.

As of March 31, 2025, the outgo of running the tract — which includes salaries positive operational and attraction costs — has travel to $517,000, according to a spokesperson with Correctional Service Canada (CSC).

Inmate says visits attract unwanted attention

A antheral who spent more than a twelvemonth incarcerated at Collins Bay's minimum information conception said he's not amazed the tract has seen truthful small usage due to the fact that it means exposing yourself, and potentially your supplier.

CBC has agreed not to place the inmate, who served his clip earlier the depletion site opened, due to the fact that helium believes speaking retired could cause problems with his employment.

"If you're a cause trader successful prison, you're not going to merchantability drugs to a feline who's going to spell to the guards due to the fact that ... they're gonna cognize who you are, and they're gonna wage attraction to you," the antheral explained.

That can result in compartment searches oregon being labelled a pack member, helium said, describing immoderate correctional officers arsenic "pure haters" who privation to punish inmates beyond their sentences.

The extremity for nearly everyone down bars is to get out, the former prisoner said, truthful an inmate would beryllium foolish to bash thing that could hazard delaying their accidental astatine parole — especially unfastened cause use.

Fewer needles recovered successful cells

An "amnesty zone" exists astir the depletion site, meaning approved inmates are capable to caput to the prison's health-care helping and if drugs are recovered connected them, they can't beryllium charged, explained Secord, the caput of wellness services.

Once a captive arrives, they're provided with cleanable supplies and fixed 10 minutes to devour their substance. They're past required to enactment for 30 minutes nether observation in lawsuit of immoderate antagonistic effects.

The sites are an inaugural supported by both harm simplification advocates and the union representing correctional officers, which sees it arsenic a mode to bounds the fig of needles wrong cells and guarantee aesculapian staff, not its members, are the ones responding to overdoses.

CSC said visits to a depletion site, similar all other aesculapian information, are confidential and volition lone beryllium shared successful constricted circumstances specified arsenic a life-threatening situation.

"Participants ... will not beryllium disciplined for utilizing the service, which includes questions astir imaginable impacts connected an offender's conditional release, but they whitethorn look disciplinary measures if caught with illicit drugs extracurricular of it," wrote spokesperson Mike Shrider successful an email.

Operating hours an issue

Even with that assurance, the worry persists among prisoners, according to Lynne Leonard, who precocious retired arsenic a prof with the University of Ottawa's School of Epidemiology and Public Health.

Between 2019 and March 2025, she visited 4 of the 5 OPS sites across the state — including Collins Bay — spending hours astatine each speaking confidentially with everyone from the warden to inmates, earlier penning up recommendations arsenic portion of an autarkic evaluation.

Leonard said 1 of the astir stubborn obstacles she encountered was the fearfulness among inmates that visiting an OPS would beryllium reported to the parole board. While that was a request successful the past, it isn't immoderate longer, the evaluator said, adding she called on CSC to marque that favoritism wide to inmates successful some her 2020 and 2025 reports.

Another communal ailment is the operating hours for the sites. While they're unfastened during the day, Leonard said prisoners don't privation to beryllium nether the power of narcotics during programming, enactment oregon meetings with parole officers. Instead, they'd similar to instrumentality drugs during their escaped clip aft supper.

The evaluator said she's been told by CSC unit that the hours travel down to finances and staffing, explaining it tin beryllium hard capable to find nurses to enactment at a prison, fto unsocial someone willing to enactment until 10 p.m. 

A determination to crystal meth

There's besides been a change successful the inmates' drug of choice. While fentanyl was fashionable erstwhile OPS sites were archetypal opening up, that's nary longer the case.

"It's present shifted to crystal meth ... resulting successful the information that you tin get fentanyl for a candy barroom now because cipher wants it, due to the fact that it's associated with overdoses," Leonard said.

Meth is typically smoked, a drug-consumption method that isn't allowed at OPS locations. The cause tin besides come with "frightening psychotic episodes," she explained.

Still, the astir evident and enduring obstruction is the unit that comes from walking done a situation to sojourn 1 of the sites.

Leonard said beyond concerns astir parole oregon a crackdown by correctional officers, inmates who usage an OPS look a much contiguous risk  — being "muscled" by others anxious for their drugs and consenting to usage violence to get them.

"It's not confidential by immoderate means, and that's portion of the issue," she said of visiting the site. "Confidentiality is simply a huge, immense issue."

Trying to pull inmates

Twenty-three overdoses oregon suspected overdoses were reported astatine Collins Bay betwixt 2022 and 2023, according to CSC.

Since the OPS opened, that fig had dropped to zero, Secord said, explaining the inclination toward crystal meth has apt been a large factor.

Like Leonard, he identified operating hours, the attraction a visit to the tract draws, and the alteration successful the cause of choice as barriers to its use.

If there's a proposal to let smoking substances including meth astatine the OPS, that enactment could be discussed successful the future, helium added.

Meanwhile, Secord said unit astatine Collins Bay volition proceed to enactment with its inmate committee and wellness liaisons to item what the tract has to offer.

Leonard said everyone wants the OPS exemplary to work, but immoderate problems volition beryllium easier to lick than others. During her evaluations, she's heard suggestions that the sites should determination retired of the wellness services conception of prisons, oregon that they should beryllium placed on a scope of cells specifically for inmates who are utilizing substances.

The erstwhile inmate said the absorption should beryllium connected rehab, not cause use, and argued CSC volition ever person a hard clip convincing prisoners that utilizing an OPS won't hurt their hopes of release.

"I think inmates person to beryllium assured that it's genuine for their ain health, their ain life," helium explained. "You person to entice them and to marque them consciousness that this is not gonna harm me."