Supervised injections site in St. Catharines

St. Catharines council has unanimously passed a motion in support of a temporary supervised injection site. We spoke to one Beamsville mother whose son died of a fentanyl overdose and says this move is a small victory in the war against opioids.

28-year-old Scott Tantradini died of a fentanyl overdose. He had 4 times the anaesthetic dose of fentanyl in his system. Following his death, his mother Sandi turned to advocacy and has been fighting to get a supervised injection site in Niagara. On Monday her dream got a step closer to reality. St. Catharines council gave the green light for a pilot program in the city to help combat the growing crisis.

Positive Living Niagara, which already runs a needle exchange program on Queenston street would host the site. If the application for the site is approved by the province, it could be up and running in as soon as 3 months.

In 2016 Niagara paramedics responded to 155 suspected opioid overdoses in the region, the following year that number soared to 520.

For more information on overdose prevention, visit: niagararegion.ca