Drug consumption sites in Calgary and Lethbridge closing
Judge denies injunction bid to keep facilities open pending appeal. Sites close at month's end.
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Safe drug consumption sites in Calgary and Lethbridge will close at the end of June despite an appeal bid, a judge ruled Tuesday.
Calgary Court of King's Bench Justice Jason Wilkins denied an injunction application that sought to keep the two facilities operating while the Alberta Court of Appeal considers whether a similar closure in Red Deer violated users' Charter rights.
Travis Peddie, who uses both sites regularly and suffers from substance use disorders, had asked the court to block the province's closure decision pending the appeal outcome. Wilkins said he was bound by earlier court rulings on the Red Deer site and could not override them.
"This issue has effectively been decided by the courts in Alberta," Wilkins said.
The ruling mirrors a decision last year when Justice Debra Yungwirth denied a similar injunction for the Red Deer facility. The Alberta Court of Appeal later upheld that decision, leaving no legal path for Wilkins to intervene on the Calgary and Lethbridge closures.