Editing Supervised injection site (section)

===== Lethbridge: ARCHES (Closed August 2020) =====
In response to the mounting death toll of drug overdose in Lethbridge, the city opened its first SCS in February, 2018.<ref name="Pijl_20200113"/>{{rp|15}} The controversial<ref>{{Cite web|last=Goulet|first=Justin|title=ARCHES ceases supervised consumption services in Lethbridge|url=https://lethbridgenewsnow.com/2020/08/31/arches-ceases-supervised-consumption-services-in-lethbridge-2/|access-date=2020-09-26|website=Lethbridge News Now|language=en}}</ref> SCS, known as [[ARCHES Lethbridge|ARCHES]] was once the busiest SCS in North America.<ref name=":3" />

The province defunded ARCHES after an audit ordered by government discovered misuse and mismanagement of public monies. Around 70% of ARCHES funding comes from the province,<ref name=":4" /> and it chose to shut it down on August 31, 2020 after the funding was revoked.<ref name=":3">{{Cite news|last=Fletcher|first=Robson|date=September 23, 2020|title=Opioid overdoses spike amid COVID-19 pandemic, with more than 3 Albertans dying per day|work=CBC|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/alberta-q2-2020-opioid-deaths-1.5735931}}</ref> The audit found “funding misappropriation, non-compliance with grant agreement [and] inappropriate governance and organizational operations.”<ref name=":4">{{Cite web|title=MLA Shannon Phillips and others react to ARCHES losing provincial funding after government-ordered audit|url=https://globalnews.ca/news/7189990/arches-lethbridge-supervised-consumption-audit-reaction/|access-date=2020-09-26|website=Global News|language=en-US}}</ref> The Alberta government requested that the site be investigated for possible criminal misuse of funds.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web|last1=Bourne|first1=Kirby|last2=Therien|first2=Eloise|date=July 16, 2020|title=Government pulls grant funding from Lethbridge safe consumption site citing fund mismanagement|url=https://globalnews.ca/news/7184155/arches-lethbridge-grant-funding-safe-consumption-site/|access-date=2020-09-26|website=Globalnews.ca|language=en-US}}</ref> Shortly afterwards, Lethbridge Police Service announced that the funds, which had previously been reported as missing, had been present and accounted for in bank accounts belonging to the SCS. Acting Inspector Pete Christos stated that the initial auditors did not have the means to determine whether money was missing, and confirmed that, during police interviews with Arches staff, all spent funds had been accounted for. Police Chief Shahin Mehdizadeh told reporters that the Alberta Justice Specialized Prosecutions Branch supported the police's findings and were not recommending criminal charges.<ref name=":LPSfunds">{{cite news |last1=Vogt |first1=Terry |title=Missing ARCHES funds accounted for: Lethbridge police |url=https://calgary.ctvnews.ca/missing-arches-funds-accounted-for-lethbridge-police-1.5241779 |access-date=25 April 2023 |work=CTV News Calgary |publisher=CTV News |date=December 22, 2020}}</ref>

The City of Lethbridge commissioned a report that included an Urban Social Issues Study (USIS) which examined unintended consequences of the SIS site in Lethbridge.<ref name="Pijl_20200113" /> The research found that in smaller cities, such as Lethbridge, that in communities with a SCS, social disorder may be more noticeable. The report's author, [[University of Lethbridge]]'s Em M. Pijl, said that news media tended to the "personal experiences of business owners and residents who work and/or live near an SCS", which contrasts with "scholarly literature that demonstrates a lack of negative neighbourhood impacts related to SCSs."<ref name="Pijl_20200113" />{{rp|14}}