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Vancouver health authority to apply for at least four new safe-injection sites

Sep 21, 2016 | 1:13 PM

VANCOUVER — Vancouver could see as many as four new supervised-injection sites by early next year.

Dr. Patricia Daly of Vancouver Coastal Health says the authority is applying to Health Canada to expand the number of harm-reduction sites in its area.

British Columbia has seen an explosion of fentanyl-related deaths over the past year, leading the province’s top doctor to declare a public health state of emergency in the spring.

Daly says it’s impossible to give a timeline for when the sites would open, but she hopes they’ll be up and running by early next year.