There's new hope in the battle against B.C.'s overdose crisis as Victoria's first-ever permanent supervised consumption site gets set to open its doors.
Modeled after Vancouver's long-standing Insite facility, the Pandora Avenue Supervised Consumption Centre opens Monday and features 10 injection booths.
It also has a recovery room for drug users to safely "chill out" in after using, and addictions, health care and counselling services.
It's a major milestone for the capital city, where a supervised consumption site was once considered too controversial to build.
"It's taken three CEOs, three mayors and three premiers before we've arrived at this point," said Island Health's Chief Medical Health Officer Dr. Richard Stanwick.
"There is still pushback out there," said Minister of Addictions and Mental Health Judy Darcy. "I don't think that's what it was 10 years ago, but we still get pushback."
While staffers at the site expect street users will fill the centre when it opens Monday, former addicts say beating the crisis will mean attracting those who use illicit drugs in private.
"This is definitely going to save lives," said harm reduction worker and former drug user Dave Keeler. "If we keep going the way we're going, we're not going to let one person who uses this site die."
While health officials waited for federal approval on the permanent consumption site, temporary pop-up sites have filled the need in Victoria.
A prevention pod fashioned out of a shipping container at Our Place Society welcomed more than 4,200 visitors in May alone without a single death.
The pod is expected to be retired as operations shift to the permanent consumption site.
