No plans to stop providing access to marijuana: Downtown Eastside group
Posted September 2, 2017 11:14 am.
Last Updated September 2, 2017 1:36 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – An advocacy group providing marijuana on Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside is trying to rally volunteers after receiving a letter from the City of Vancouver telling them to shut down their operation.
The High Hopes Foundation is operating at 501 Powell Street, a lot owned by the City that’s used for the Downtown Eastside market.
Volunteers have been offering affordable access to cannabis to people seeking pain relief, or experiencing withdrawal symptoms from other drugs.
Sarah Blyth with the group says it’s an attempt to fight the overdose crisis by offering an alternative to opiates, which are often laced with deadly fentanyl.
“Getting people alternatives to the drugs that they’re using on the street that are killing them is the way to go forward in this crisis,” she says. “We know it’s controversial, we know it’s crazy but we’re going to do it.”
But Blyth says City of Vancouver has told volunteers to shut the stall down, until a meeting on Tuesday.
“I think we’ll be pressured to not do what we’re doing.”
“(But) we’re going to continue on and keep going, because to be honest, I believe that what we’re doing actually really saves lives.”
Blyth says the letter from the City followed a visit from a VPD officer, who took photos of the operation.
In a statement, the City of Vancouver says the work of Sarah Blyth and other members of the community to combat the opioid crisis is truly heroic, and the City wants to support any efforts designed to ease the effects of the crisis.
“We have arranged a meeting on Tuesday with Ms Blyth to talk about the activities of the High Hopes Foundation that are occurring in the City-funded DTES street market,” the statement says.
“We also need to obtain advice from Vancouver Coastal Health regarding this approach and the products High Hopes is distributing. Unlike the overdose prevention sites, which are fully endorsed by VCH as an effective response to the crisis, we do not yet have that level of clarity from public health authorities.”
There have been at least 247 fatal overdoses in Vancouver this year.
The VPD has been contacted for comment.
