MONTREAL - Some downtown residents continue to be perturbed by an upcoming plan to funnel intravenous drug users into their neighbourhood by opening a safe injection centre near their homes.

Although the exact location of an upcoming downtown safe injection site has yet to be revealed, about 20 residents lined at a Health and Social Services meeting Tuesday up to express their concerns with the impact the service will have on their area.

"This will bring drug dealers to the area, that is to be sure," said Marie-Andree Berube.

However health authorities continue to argue that the safe injection site is essential to combat drug fatalities.

"It offers a safe secure place where they can inject themselves, but it also gives them a chance to meet with healthcare providers who can then help them access other healthcare services," said Dr. Terry-Nan Tannenbaum of the Montreal Public Health Department.

He cites statistics indicating that drug injection deaths have been on the rise in Montreal.

The fact that safe injection sites have long existed in other cities does not quell the anxieties of the Ville-Marie residents.

"How are we going to recognize the junkie who needs to come in and inject a first time user who wants to experiment, maybe your daughter, or mine?" asked Michel Martel, who worried that the safe injection site would make his area, "a playground for drug dealers."

However the health authorities see the supervised needle haven as a health imperative.

"Safe injection sites are all over the world," said Louis Letellier de St. Just of the Cactus Montreal needle exchange. "We're following the exact same goals, to lower the death by overdose."