On the heels of a BC Coroners report revealing fatal illicit drug overdoses on southern Vancouver Island have more than doubled already this year, a call is again being made for a supervised injection site in Victoria.
"Vancouver Island's got the highest rate of illicit drug overdose deaths in the province."
Bernie Pauly is an associate professor in the University Victoria's School of Nursing and a scientist with the Centre for Addictions Research of BC.
"We've known this for a number of years, that we have a need for a supervised injection site. Probably close to eight years. We've had evidence to say that they're effective (and) that they're working, but they simply have not been implemented."
Pauly says testing would also be useful locally so users could have their drugs tested to determine if they contain fentanyl or other unwanted substances.