Cheam First Nation/Rosedale – A new mobile overdose prevention site is open in Cheam First Nation in Rosedale to support people who use substances and help prevent toxic drug poisonings and deaths.
The Cheam Mobile Overdose Prevention Site located at 52161 West Victor Drive is open from Noon to 6 p.m. daily. The new service includes a customized van where individuals can safely use substances knowing their consumption is witnessed by trained staff. In addition, monitored inhalation services are provided in a separate tent outside the van.
This is the first mobile overdose prevention site located in a First Nations community in B.C. aimed at reducing the harms associated with substance use while embracing an Indigenous-led approach that surrounds users of the site with traditional cultural supports and culturally safe care. In partnership with Cheam First Nation, First Nations Health Authority and Fraser Health, the new site is serving First Nations, Métis and all people living at Cheam as well as those from Chilliwack, Agassiz, Rosedale and adjacent communities.
“The heart-wrenching impact of the toxic drug crisis on our people, families and communities requires a radical, multi-pronged response,” says Cheam Chief Andrew Victor. “Our strategies must evolve to reduce harm and further deaths. Cheam welcomes this mobile overdose prevention site to help protect our loved ones in higher-risk behaviour.”
The Toxic Drug Crisis has disproportionately affected First Nations peoples and communities in B.C.,” says Richard Jock, Chief Executive Officer of the First Nations Health Authority. “Despite making up only 3.3 percent of the population in B.C., First Nations people comprise 16.4 per cent of toxic drug poisoning deaths in 2022, and we must take action to reverse this trend. Alarmingly First Nations women in B.C. died at 11.2 times the rate of other female residents in 2022.”
