Safe-consumption drug site pops-up in Nanaimo City Hall parking lot
NANAIMO — While bureaucrats wade through discussions about setting up an official supervised drug-consumption site in Nanaimo, people are dying.
That situation has motivated Nanaimo Coun. Gord Fuller and a group of volunteers to open a pop-up safe-consumption location they’re calling ONSITE in the parking lot of City Hall.
Less than 20 steps from a space reserved for the mayor, a walled tent has been erected in the corner of the parking lot facing onto Dunsmuir Street in downtown Nanaimo. Inside is a chair for users to sit in while they consume, tables stacked with snacks and needle disposal bins and a small propane fireplace.
The site opened for the first time at 7 a.m. Monday. By 1 p.m. it had yet to see its first client. The goal, according to Fuller, is to have the location open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. everyday until something permanent can be created.