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U of C says supervised consumption sites could save millions of dollars

 U of C says supervised consumption sites could save millions of dollars
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Via University of Calgary \ Facebook

U of C says supervised consumption sites could save millions of dollars
U of C says supervised consumption sites could save millions of dollars

The debate about whether or not we should regulate supervised consumption sites has been an extremely controversial one among both officials and the general public. This month, in an effort to help the Alberta Government save money within the health care system, the University of Calgary actually found that SCS’s could actually save us millions of dollars while also freeing up emergency medical services.

Using public population-level data from the last 4 years, the U of C concluded that these sites produce $1,600 in savings per supervised overdose, which is approximately $2.3 million saved since 2017.

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“We chose to look at overdose management, preventions of overdose-related deaths and the associated cost impacts for Alberta Health,” UCalgary Nursing assistant professor Dr. Jennifer Jackson (Ph.D.) said in a news release.

“SCS are widely accepted as decreasing fatal accidental overdoses. When people overdose at the SCS, the staff currently manage 98 percent of these at their site, which translates to 700 people a year that don’t need ambulance or emergency management.”

According to the statement, Jackson hopes that by educating the public and by sharing the results of her research, policy-makers will look into the benefits of opening more than the 6 currently approved supervised consumption sites in Alberta, more specifically in Calgary.

If it’s going to save money, and more importantly lives, than why not, right? What do you guys think?

Via University of Calgary \ Facebook