“The first few days [after the closure] you would see more needles and garbage around the site, but now you see even more within the larger vicinity of the neighbourhood,” Chris tells The Grind.
Chris is an artist and advocate who watched the Parkdale Queen West Supervised Consumption Site close in March. He used to use the site at Bathurst and Queen, and says its closure has been bad for the neighbourhood.
On March 31, four of the 10 supervised consumption sites (SCSs) in Toronto were forced to shut due to Doug Ford’s Community Care and Recovery Act.
These sites were the main place where people who use drugs could pick up clean needles and safely dispose of used ones.
An Ontario superior court injunction recognized the negative consequences of shutting down the sites, and ruled they could stay open temporarily. But with little funding, almost all the Toronto sites impacted by the act still had to close.
One of these shuttered sites is The Works, formerly located next to Sankofa Square at Victoria and Dundas Street. It used to distribute clean needles for the entire city.
The building where The Works was is now barricaded by a metal fence, blocking the entire entrance and the needle disposal area. Still, the people who once depended on its services continue to linger in front of it.
Immediate harm
“What used to be a shorter walk to be able to access sites and support can now be over 20 minutes,” Chris explains.
When people are under the influence of opioids, it’s much more difficult for them to walk. The reality is, when people have to travel further to reach a safe consumption site, they may not make it at all.
Chris says he’s seen people becoming more isolated in their drug use. They’re not supervised when using drugs, leading to more overdoses in public spaces.
The Ontario Drug Policy Research Network estimated that over 600 people who use SCSs would lose access to their resources after the closures.
Some sites that were forced to close, like the one at Bathurst and Queen, have transitioned to a street outreach model. But in comparison to a physical location, outreach teams are limited in the resources they can offer, says Mia Hershkowitz, a harm reduction worker.
For instance: Hershkowitz describes how outreach teams can only carry small amounts of oxygen due to its weight. But as terrifying amounts of veterinary tranquilizer poison the unregulated supply of drugs, Naloxone, the medication commonly used to reverse opioid poisoning, is simply not strong enough. People who are overdosing often need oxygen to help bring their heart rate back up – but outreach teams rarely have access to it.
According to Toronto’s Drug Checking Service, more than half of all fentanyl checked in the first two weeks of April contains some form of toxic tranquilizer. Fentanyl is a powerful opioid that can be taken safely in small doses, but is often found mixed into other illicit drugs in lethal quantities.
More than a place to use drugs safely
Samantha is an animal lover and local philanthropist. She mostly uses the Kensington Market Overdose Prevention Site (KMOPS), the only site affected by the Community Care and Recovery Act that has stayed open because it is funded by private donations.
She appreciates that the resources there don’t come with a side of stigma.
“No one wants to go to a primary clinic and be treated differently by doctors when they find out you do drugs,” she says. “Doctors at the site don’t judge you, they call you on the weekends and ask how you are doing.”
“It isn’t just about using drugs safely, there are lots of resources. You can go and watch movies, you can volunteer, socialize with people, they provide clothing.”
Four of the sites that have closed in Toronto are transitioning toward being abstinence-based “homelessness and addictions recovery treatment hubs.” The province has promised them funding if they make the switch. Once they open, the hubs will continue to offer some of the same support services, but they cannot allow people to use drugs on-site.
Both Chris and Samantha see the abstinence requirement to use the hubs as a significant barrier to access.
And as drug users lose access to supervised consumption sites, “people are feeling more alone,” Samantha says. She adds that, as a woman, she feels more vulnerable to drug-related harms and violence now that most of the sites in the downtown core are gone.
New police powers
“The cops seize whatever drugs you have. They take whatever is in your backpack,” Chris says. “I don’t even like to be outside.”
The supervised consumption sites that closed used to test drugs for contamination and provide prescription pharmaceutical opioids, like a small daily supply of hydromorphone. Now when people’s drugs are seized by police and they go looking for a new supply, they are more likely to rely on the contaminated, unchecked opioids present on the street.
Chris adds he’s seen a decline in both drug checking and safe regulated supply since the closures. Toronto’s Drug Checking Service reported a 50 per cent decrease in drugs being checked in the first two weeks of April.
That situation would become more severe under the Safer Municipalities Act, a new bill proposed by the Ford government. If passed, it would let police ticket and arrest people using illegal drugs in public, slapping them with harsher punishments including a fine of up to $10,000 and being jailed for up to six months.
For people who have nowhere private to use drugs, and nowhere else to live – say, someone living in a tent in a public park – this legislation would mean constant police harassment and fines they can’t afford.
“Keep the sites open”
Despite the forced closures, Chris, Mia and Samantha said that their friends, SCS staff and outreach teams are trying to do whatever they can to make sure people don’t fall through the cracks.
Outside the locked doors of The Works, outreach teams not affiliated with any organization asked people how they were feeling and if they needed any clean supplies, or even just a cigarette.
But it’s not enough to undo the harm caused by the closures.
Chris says the last month has made it clear: “It just makes sense to keep the sites open.”
Editor’s note, May 7, 2025: This article was updated to add more context about fentanyl.
