The organizer of an unsanctioned injection site in downtown Lethbridge has been fined multiple times
This unsanctioned injection site, that has popped up in the City of Lethbridge, was ran by organizers who feel the existing services are not adequate. This has divided residents living around the downtown area.
The City of Lethbridge confirmed that the organizers of the Lethbridge Overdose Prevention Society (LOPS) have been fined because they continued to operate their unsanctioned injection site without a permit.
LOPS does not have approval from the City of Lethbridge and Alberta Health Services to run an unsanctioned injection site.
The city issued a ticket for failing to provide a permit on the days of mid-September till now and had received multiple fines, on the offences of $300 from the Lethbridge Police Service. (LPS).
Bylaw 5651 states, “No person shall: unless allowed by permit: (p) Camp in a Park (q) Erect a tent or other structure in a park.”
“We’re trying to revitalize the downtown core and to have a site like that is very disconcerting.” said city councillor Mark Campbell.
ADVERTISEMENT
City councillors decided that the city’s bylaw enforcement officers and Lethbridge Police Service would monitor the situation and many people wonder if it’s the right choice.
Some city residents are in favour of the site after the provincial government stooped the funding of the Supervised Consumption Site (SCS).
LOPS is running a GoFundMe page to prevent overdoses, and only in a few weeks since it started, it has brought in over $19,000 in financial aid and the goal is to raise $30,000.
While many LPS officers haven’t seen any illegal activities, residents are concerned about the rise in overdose in the city.
“I believe that it’s a good idea, but the city should do more compared to letting the police just handle it,” said a concerned Lethbridge resident Micheal Patterson.
Residents hope city councillors and the Lethbridge Police Service will make an executive decision to remove the unsanctioned injection site.
The Government of Alberta pulled funding for ARCHES at the end of August, which was Canada’s busiest injection site, seeing an average of 500 visits a day.
The unsanctioned, pop-up injection site was set up just days after the province had revealed that Lethbridge had one of the highest per-capita rates of opioid overdose deaths in Alberta.
