BC Conservative leader John Rustad had been building for months to his announcement Sunday that he’d close B.C. safe injection sites and replace them with addiction intake facilities. He’s been hinting at the move for most of the year, as his drug policies emerged in dribs and drabs. The culmination occurred before a major rally in Surrey on Sunday.

“These inhalation sites, they're not safe, these injection sites as well. Enough of the drug dens. We need to be converting them over to make sure they're connected with recovery,” Rustad told me.

There are 48 supervised consumption and overdose prevention sites in B.C. Rustad said he could foresee leaving a small number open temporarily during the transition to treatment intake sites, but they could not be disruptive to neighbourhoods.

“I mean, look, the intention is here to link people to recovery,” he said.

“We have to stop the drugs. Doctors are telling me that the street drugs that are out there today, within two to three years, can cause permanent brain damage. Once that starts happening, there may be no path back to recovery. We need to end this rate........

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