Recent news broadcast on CBC radio emphasizes, once again, the public health crisis resulting from opioid addiction and opioid overdoses in this community.
The number of discarded, dirty needles found on the streets is continuing to grow (workers found 450 needles in just one hour) and estimates suggest those numbers have doubled over the last year.
A Community Drug Strategy embarked on a study to determine the need for a safe consumption service in Sudbury and we anxiously await the outcome of that group’s work.
We are hopeful that a consumption treatment service will be established and funded here soon.
Many Ontarians continue to believe that providing a safe consumption site will encourage drug use and increase addictions. There is little evidence to support this.
Consumption treatment sites will, however, provide a place where consumption can be supervised and overdoses can be prevented or treated.
They also include onsite access to addiction treatment services and other interventions such as primary care, mental health, education, access to housing and social supports, and additional harm reduction services such as distribution and disposal of harm reduction supplies.
Opioid addiction is a real problem in our community. Those using unprescribed opioids are often dealing with mental illness, homelessness, poverty, and trauma.
The causes of addiction are often complex and multi-factorial and the stigma associated with it often results in adverse outcomes including poor mental and physical health, barriers to substance use interventions, delayed recovery and reintegration, and increased involvement in risky behaviour.
“Those” people are us.
Let’s keep our families and friends safe. Support the establishment of a consumption treatment site in Sudbury.
Maria Casas
Political Action Executive Network Officer
RNAO Sudbury & District Chapter