Health unit wants your opinion about supervised injection sites

Londoners can now weigh in on public supervised injection sites for the city's drug users. 

The Middlesex-London Health Unit launched an online survey today and released the schedule for nine public meetings that will be held throughout November. 

The survey can be found here. It will be available until Dec. 15.

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"Seeking the community's input, insights and feedback is a critical step in finding ways to address the drug crisis that currently holds thousands of Londoners in its grip," the health unit said in a statement. 

Getting input is also a necessary hurdle the city must clear before applying to Health Canada for permission to open a supervised injection site. 

"The misuse of opioid drugs has claimed thousands of lives across the country over the last decade, including nearly 400 deaths in our community alone. In contrast to the decline in the provincial HIV infection rate, the rate in our community is climbing due to injection drug use," Chris Mackie, the region's medical officer of health, said in the statement. 

"Our community needs supervised consumption facilities and we want your advice on how best to ahcieve that." 

Nine public meetings: 

• November 7th, Marconi Club, 120 Clarke Rd. 6:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
• November 8th, Canada Games Aquatic Centre, 1045 Wonderland Rd. 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
• November 13th, BMO Centre, 295 Rectory St. 6:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
• November 15th, Goodwill Centre, 255 Horton St. 6:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
• November 21st, Byron Recreation Centre, 1308 Norman Ave. 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
• November 27th, South London Community Centre, 585 Bradley Ave. 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
• November 28th, Middlesex County Building, 399 Ridout St. North. 6:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
• November 29th, Stronach Community Recreation Centre, 1221 Sandford St. 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
• November 29th, Stoney Creek Library, 920 Sunningdale Rd. East. 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

Drugs use a growing problem

London gives out 2.5 million needles a year to injection drug users, a number second only to Vancouver. 

A survey of injection drug users last year found 86 per cent said they'd use such services. 

London's HIV rates are growing faster than anywhere in Ontario and the Middlesex-London Health Unit declared a public health emergency because of spiking HIV and Hepatitis C rates. 

The city's rates of two kinds of endocarditis, an infection of the inner lining of the heart, are also very high. Those infections can be caused by bacteria that enters the blood stream through injection drug use. 

Recently, Mackie said he suspects the city's drug-related deaths, including both overdoses and diseases, have surpassed deaths caused by car crashes among those aged 15 to 50.