A Salvation Army hub could become home to a controversial second supervised injecting room in Melbourne but a final decision is yet to be made.
The Victorian government is considering housing the room out of the charity's building on Bourke Street near state parliament, AAP has been told.
It is the hub for its Melbourne Project 614, which supports people experiencing homelessness, mental health issues, alcohol and other drug addictions and social poverty.
Salvation Army Major Brendan Nottle said he has seen the impacts of drug overdoses and drug-related deaths first-hand across more than two decades working in the CBD.
"I have said for many years we need a second supervised injecting room in the CBD because it will save lives," he said in a statement on Wednesday.
"Any proposed location is a matter for the Victorian government and I will leave it to them to get on with their work."
Former Victoria Police commissioner Ken Lay delivered his report on drug-taking patterns in the city's CBD to Mental Health Minister Gabrielle Williams at the end of June.
His repeatedly delayed report is yet to be released as Ms Williams considers the government's response.
A medically supervised injecting room trial in the CBD has been under consideration for several years after an initial site in North Richmond was opened in 2018.
A mooted plan to locate the second injecting room a block from the Queen Victoria Market was shot down by the City of Melbourne in 2020, before the government bought a building on Flinders Street the following year.
Melbourne Lord Mayor Sally Capp said the council has not been updated on the government's plans and swirling speculation on a second site had been damaging for local businesses.
"I've already had a trader on the phone early this morning," she told Melbourne radio station 3AW.
"The angst and the anxiety that comes from all of the rumours and the rumour mill is overwhelming for so many traders."
Opposition Leader John Pesutto suggested the Salvation Army's current services would be jeopardised if it also housed an injecting room, saying no location in the CBD was suitable.
"It's just not the right location for that to happen," he told reporters.
If the government insists on proceeding with a second site, Mr Pesutto suggested it should find a location on the CBD's outskirts that can be linked up with other health services.
Senior Victorian minister Ben Carroll said he was unaware of the Salvos hub being considered as a potential location but understood the community's frustration over the prolonged uncertainty.
"Supervised injecting rooms ... save lives and they are a very important mechanism to giving people the support they deserve," he told reporters.
"So it's understandable the community interest in this."
