No to injection sites near schools | Rizqy overtakes Carmant and submits a bill

(Quebec) It is necessary to prohibit the establishment of supervised consumption centers for hard drugs less than 150 meters from schools and daycares on the territory of Montreal, less than 250 meters elsewhere in Quebec, provides for a bill tabled by the Liberal MP Marwah Rizqy on Wednesday. She is ahead of the Minister responsible for Social Services, Lionel Carmant.

Since the end of August, the latter has been preparing a bill to ensure that these sites – but also day centers for the homeless – are not located near schools and daycares. This is in response to the controversy surrounding Maison Benoît Labre, located near an elementary school in the southwest of Montreal.

The Liberal bill grants organizations that provide supervised consumption of hard drugs two years to comply with the ban. Note that the PLQ lowers the distance it previously requested from 250 to 150 meters for Montreal. The Press demonstrated a month ago the headache that the establishment of such an exclusion radius would represent in this city due to the presence of numerous schools and daycares. Minister Carmant requested a legal opinion to analyze this issue.

Ontario recently decided to ban supervised drug consumption sites within 200 meters of schools and daycares. This measure inspires the Legault government.

Near schools, “there shouldn’t be any. There shouldn’t have been any and there won’t be any,” said Prime Minister François Legault at the end of August. The problem is that “no one wants one in their yard.”

“We have to try to find places that are actually not close to schools, not close to children. It’s never easy to find these places,” he added.

The Prime Minister emphasized that a supervised drug consumption site “saves lives”, according to specialists. It helps prevent overdoses.