Revised - The Yukon’s first supervised consumption site opened in Whitehorse months after the government declared a territory-wide substance use emergency in January 2022.

Staff there say it’s operating as it should, saving lives and reducing harm in the community.

Last year, 25 Yukoners lost their lives to illicit drugs, the same number the territory’s chief coroner reported in 2021.

Without the new site in Whitehorse, where Yukoners with substance use problems can use drugs in a safe space, under the supervision of staff trained to provide medical care, staff there say those numbers likely would have been higher.

Jill Aalhus is the program manager at the Blood Ties Four Directions Centre, which operates the downtown Whitehorse site. She has been on the front lines since it opened.

“We’ve responded to 24 overdoses on-site, and almost half of those were in the last two months,” Aalhus told the Star last week.

“So we’re seeing a huge increase in access as well as a number of lives saved on-site.”

The site consists of a heavily ventilated smoking room and five booths where people can safely inject substances.

There is also a lounge area where people can detox, or just stay out of the cold and socialize. 

Five staff work at the site, and are trained to provide medical care to those reacting adversely to illicit drugs.

That includes administering oxygen and naloxone, a fast-acting drug that temporarily reverses the effects of opioids, during overdoses.

It’s all part of a harm-reduction approach to substance use.

It’s a compassionate approach to the substance use emergency that aims to reduce the health and social harms of illicit drugs, rather than punish people who use substances that are, in many cases, incredibly addictive and toxic.

“It’s mostly just having a non-judgmental space,” Aalhus said.

“A lot of people have told us that they like having an environment where they don’t feel judged, where they don’t have to feel that they might be criminalized for consuming drugs, where they feel safe and supported, and just having a place that’s sterile and comfortable.”

Clients are able to use the site anonymously, and months of work have built trust among clients, staff and the community, she said.

Services at the site have also come a long way since opening in September 2021, Aalhus said.

A major part of that was the addition of a smoking room in May 2022.

The Whitehorse location is one of only a few supervised consumption sites in the country that offers clients a place to inhale substances inside, Aalhus said.

She said that makes a big difference, since most clients use drugs by smoking them, not by injection.

More than 90 per cent of clients inhale substances at the site, Aalhus said.

Crack cocaine, fentanyl and benzodiazepines are the three substances most commonly used by clients, she said.

The site also has equipment that can examine the contents of substances people are using.

If a substance is found to be cut with other harmful substances, or to be particularly powerful, Blood Ties can then relay that information to the broader community.

Staffing levels have also become more consistent, Aalhus said.

Blood Ties is ultimately looking for more funding in the future to bring on more staff and operate the site seven days a week, instead of five, she added.

The site is funded by Mental Wellness and Substance Use Services through the Yukon government.

Karissa Bascom is the harm reduction counsellor for Blood Ties.

She said having a physical location dedicated to harm reduction has increased the group’s capacity to respond to overdoses and medical problems related to substance use. 

Before the site opened, Bascom said, staff sometimes had to travel to people experiencing overdoses and administer care out in the cold.

Having a safe, indoor space with supplies close at hand has made a big difference, she said.

“I think it’s opened up another way of being able to do this work effectively,” she said.

“It’s been well-needed for a long time. And I think you can just see that through the increase of (clientele) numbers as the community, I think, is starting to know that this is a space where they can trust to be safe.”

Aalhus said the site, located in a residential neighbourhood, has had good relations with surrounding neighbours and she’s been encouraged by positive feedback from the community.

Beyond providing a safe space for substance use, Blood Ties Four Directions also provides wraparound services, like social supports to find housing and employment. The program also educates clients on safe substance use and harm reduction responses.

There were more than 400 instances of consumption onsite in February but 400 unique individuals did not access the site in February.

Over 220 unique individuals have accessed the service since it opened

One reason for the increase in uptake, Aalhus said, is the trust Blood Ties has built with people who need its services.

On the one-year anniversary of the site’s opening in September 2022, Health and Social Services Minister Tracy-Anne McPhee issued a statement, saying, “Each and every visit is a potential drug poisoning prevented and an opportunity to provide support for someone who needs help managing their substance use.”

In that first year, the government reported that 1,124 visits to the site.