EDITORIAL: Time to pull out all stops in fight against overdoses
A drug more dangerous than fentanyl has made its way to Ottawa’s streets.
Carfentanil is 100 times more powerful than fentanyl, a drug already causing a national health crisis. The new, super-strength opioid is a veterinarian-grade tranquilizer used on large animals such as elephants. And it has twice been found in recent Ottawa raids.
This city urgently needs to shore up its defences against these dangerous drugs. And
now is the time to cut down on the red tape: Health Canada needs to fast-track its approval of multiple safe-injection sites — including one in Centretown now under review.
Preventive measures are, of course, a good idea — no one is arguing that just saying NO to drugs is the best way to prevent overdose deaths. But preventive measures put in place today will still come too late for those already in the throes of addiction. Hindsight is 20/20. We need to make sure that injection drug users in the city are as safe as possible right now.
It’s also important to note that safe-injection sites can and should be a crucial step toward drug abuse treatment. Studies show that people who use safe-injection sites are also more likely to begin to use other programs that may help them get off the opioids threatening their lives. Just recently, an unauthorized pop-up injection site in Lowertown helped get one local drug user into a long-term care facility to help him detox.
Ottawa Inner City Health is renovating a shipping container outside of the Shepherds of Good Hope shelter in the Byward Market with hopes of gaining approval for another makeshift safe-injection site. Approval should be swiftly granted.
These technically illegal injection tents and trailers are being set up out of necessity, not rebellion. Health activists are just doing what they can to stop people from dying. And the threat is real — September saw the highest number of suspected overdoses in one week in Ottawa emergency rooms since November 2015.
These pop-ups are meant to be temporary, but by the looks of things, the drug crisis isn’t ending anytime soon. Centretown in particular needs a permanent and legal injection site to protect some of its most vulnerable citizens. The executive director of the Sandy Hill Community Health Centre has said that permanent sites have a better shot at getting people into treatment programs.
A permanent safe-injection site would also be less likely to face the challenges that a pop-up faces, such as vandalizing vigilantes and potential shutdowns. Earlier this year, the Somerset West Community Health Centre in Chinatown put in a bid for a safe-injection site after hearing from its clients that there is a clear need. Health Canada should race to approve the application.
It’s time to put aside conservative sensibilities on this. Yes, drugs are dangerous, and no, they’re not pretty. But that’s no reason to bind a life-saving solution in red tape.
— Maggie Parkhill