Red Deer overdose prevention site set to close after judge rules against extending injunction

The overdose prevention tract successful Red Deer volition beryllium closing astatine the extremity of the month, following a determination by a justice released Wednesday. 

Justice C.A. Rickards of Court of King's Bench denied a petition by Aaron Brown, a antheral with opioid usage disorder, to support the OPS unfastened beyond March 31. 

In January, a antithetic justice granted an interim injunction to proceed being unfastened astir the timepiece until the extremity of March. The authorities was readying to signifier retired the tract and had already chopped operating hours to 12 hours a day. Brown argued that the OPS closure would interruption his Charter rights. 

The justice said successful his determination that portion Brown had visited the tract 4 times betwixt October and January, helium has continued to usage drugs 3 times a day, and said helium "cannot reason that determination is simply a existent probability that Brown volition endure unavoidable irreparable harm if OPS closes."

His lawyer Avnish Nanda has filed an entreaty of the judge's ruling that volition beryllium heard connected April 16.  The afloat proceeding connected the OPS closure is scheduled for June. 

"We're hopeful that connected entreaty a tribunal volition afloat analyse what is astatine contented here, what's being requested and regularisation that it's tenable to support the presumption quo for an further 12 weeks," Nanda said Thursday. 

"We weren't asking for an injunction for years. We were asking for an injunction for until June 26th of this twelvemonth erstwhile the afloat proceeding volition beryllium had."

The OPS has been operating successful a trailer extracurricular the Safe Harbour Society's stateless structure successful downtown Red Deer since 2018. Alberta Health Services took implicit operations from the non-profit radical Turning Point successful 2023.

Red Deer metropolis assembly passed a question successful February 2024 asking the state to unopen down the tract aft a full-day nationalist hearing.

The bulk of presenters told councillors they wanted the OPS to enactment open. 

Site closing 

The Alberta authorities announced successful September that it was cutting backing to the OPS and closing the site at the extremity of March. 

Drug users volition alternatively beryllium getting entree to a squad of paramedics and nurses who volition beryllium successful the contiguous country to reverse overdoses and a new mobile addiction medicine clinic.

Recovery coaches are moving wrong the Safe Harbour Shelter to assistance radical entree services. The state is besides backing much betterment beds. 

Mental Health and Addiction Minister Dan Williams said helium isn't waiting for the result of Brown's appeal. 

"I volition beryllium stopping the cause depletion services successful Red Deer starting adjacent month," helium said.

NDP MLA Janet Eremenko, the Opposition professional for intelligence wellness and addiction, said she was disappointed to perceive the tract volition beryllium closed arsenic of April 1. 

She said the OPS tin beryllium the archetypal measurement to betterment by redeeming users from decease if they ingest poisoned drugs.

"They could person kept it unfastened for different 15 weeks until we could really perceive the existent bony successful the statement for wherefore the OPS should enactment open," Eremenko said.

"So intelligibly the curate made that determination a agelong clip agone that the OPS was going to adjacent travel hellhole oregon precocious water."

Lawyer Nanda says Brown is disappointed by Wednesday's decision. 

"He was hopeful that his dependable would beryllium heard … and recognize that for idiosyncratic similar him, these sites are the quality betwixt beingness and death."