Opioid poisoning is behind an “unprecedented” increase in fatal overdoses across this city and unless services are immediately expanded — including the creation of safe drug supply — more deaths will come, Toronto’s chief medical officer of health told the city Monday. “We continue to be in the midst of an opioid poisoning crisis. It continues here in Toronto. It continues elsewhere in Canada and the crisis is indeed claiming thousands of lives,” said Dr. Eileen de Villa, speaking to the board of health about proposed updates to the Toronto Overdose Action Plan at city hall.De Villa said the update to the action plan, which is more than two years old, is in response to “very grave concerns around the situation in which we find ourselves” and includes recommendations for all levels of government that will be discussed by city council next week. They include:Toronto should provide better supports for undeserved groups, including Indigenous peoples and racialized communities, and continue to press the federal government to decriminalize drugs for personal use and explore the creation of a safe supply — a regulated source of opioids that would limit the need to buy drugs off the street. The province should reinstate support for the overdose prevention site model it pulled back on in March that served as an “agile, low-barrier service option,” and increase harm-reduction funding for community-based organizations as well as work with community partners to find ways to have women who use drugs keep custody of their children through family-centred supports.The federal government should increase funding for local programs and explore a “range of safer drug supply options” and what frontline workers would need to get those safe supply programs off the ground. In Toronto, in 2017, at least 308 people died from opioid overdoses, according to Toronto Public Health, and preliminary data for 2 ...
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