A group of agencies monitoring the opioid crisis in Windsor-Essex is turning to the public for feedback on a proposed consumption site.
The Windsor-Essex Community Opioid and Substance Strategy (WECOSS) has begun the public input phase of its plan to establish a Consumption and Treatment Site (CTS) within Windsor's downtown core.
An online survey has been launched to allow the public to give its thoughts on both proposed locations. The survey will gather input from the downtown business and residential communities. Details of the survey were discussed in an online media briefing Thursday evening.
The two possible sites are in the same area, at 101 Wyandotte Street East and 628 Goyeau Street. Windsor-Essex County Health Unit CEO and Chief Nursing Officer Theresa Marentette said the locations were decided after consultation with public health officials, and with certain criteria.
"It had to be 200 metres from sensitive land use, it had to be within 500 metres of transportation, and in a place where people who inject drugs would use, so we used our local data and our epidemiology team to determine where we were seeing the most activity in the area," said Marentette.
Marentette added that landlords were offered an expression of interest, and that there were over two dozen possible locations suggested.
Ward 3 Councillor Rino Bortolin said downtown residents have become more receptive to the idea. Community consultation in 2019 showed that 61 per cent of people surveyed agreed that a CTS site would be helpful.
"What started as a sort of a negative knee-jerk reaction to this, we've come a long way in getting a lot of community buy-in," said Bortolin.
This public consultation period for CTS sites comes as opioid-related overdoses are on the rise in Windsor-Essex. So far in 2021, WECOSS had issued five public alerts warning of drug and opioid-related overdoses.
WECOSS had hoped to submit a completed application later this year, with a response coming early in 2022.
The survey is online through Friday, July 2. To take the survey or get additional information on CTS, visit WECOSS's official website.
