Earlier in December, the Nēwo-Yōtina Friendship Centre in Regina announced receiving full clearance from Health Canada to operate its supervised consumption site. Receiving the exemption to operate as Regina’s only supervised consumption site permits the centre to continue allowing individuals to consume drugs in a safe environment.

The Indigenous-led non-profit has already been operating for three years under a temporary exemption to the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act. Currently, Nēwo-Yōtina and Prairie Harm Reduction in Saskatoon are now the only federally-approved sites in Saskatchewan.

According to staff members who work at the safe consumption site, it helps to save lives and get treatment for individuals suffering from addictions. “They were already using drugs. We are just providing a space for them to use safely,” said Emile Gariepy, harm reduction manager at Nēwo-Yōtina Friendship Centre in Regina, in her interview with CBC News.

Furthermore, Rob Kraushaar, clinical program manager with the Regina Street Team, told CBC News he’s already noticed that the site is making a difference in terms of harm reduction for individuals who use drugs. He also noted that the site is doing more than preventing overdose deaths, since it also reduces sharing needles and pipes, and as a result, the spread of infectious disease. “We don’t have enough shelter spaces, we don’t have treatment spaces, we don’t have enough detox spaces. Everything’s full all the time and there aren’t enough houses available,” said Kraushaar. “We see a lot of our people use that site and it’s a wonderful thing.”

At the safe consumption site, there is also a paramedic on site to address overdoses, and drug testing kits are handed out to check for fentanyl and other dangerous adulterants.

“When they are overdosing, we have a paramedic on site able to bring them back,” said Gariepy, also noting that paramedics are immediately able to deliver Naloxone, a life-saving medication used to reverse the effects of an opioid overdose. “We’re not looking at people who overdose going into ICU because of brain damage from hypoxia.”

The report released by the Saskatchewan Coroner Service shows that in 2024, there were 346 confirmed and suspected drug deaths in Saskatchewan, which corresponds to a 28.5% decrease from the 484 deaths recorded in 2023. Moreover, the majority of the overdose deaths occurred in the province’s two largest cities, with 77 deaths recorded in Regina and 68 deaths in Saskatoon. Furthermore, the majority of overdose cases in the province have been linked to fentanyl or related opioids.