IH plans to build brick-and-mortar safe injection site in Kamloops

Photo: The Canadian Press

A safe injection kit is seen inside the Fraser Health supervised consumption site in Surrey, B.C., Tuesday, June 6, 2017. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward

A brick-and-mortar supervised consumption site is in the works for Kamloops, according to Interior Health.

In a statement provided to Castanet Kamloops in response to a query, an IH spokesperson said a “permanent indoor” overdose prevention site is in the planning stages, with more information expected to be revealed in the coming months.

Kamloops drug users are encouraged to use the mobile supervised consumption site parked near Sixth Avenue and Seymour Street for the time being.

Eighty-seven people died in Kamloops last year due to illicit drug toxicity — a record number that pegs the Tournament Capital among the most impacted communities per capita in B.C.

According to data provided by the BC Coroners Service, Kamloops had an illicit drug toxicity death rate of 68.3 per 100,000 people — slightly below Vancouver’s 72.6.

Kelowna moved from a mobile model to a brick-and-mortar supervised consumption facility last year. The Central Okanagan recorded 86 overdose deaths in 2021 for a rate of 38.3.