December 8, 2020
Arthur, Trent University
In Peterborough specifically, visits to the emergency department for opioid poisoning increased by 214% between 2014 and 2018. As well as, between July 2017 and June 2018, Peterborough Public Health (PPH) ranked Peterborough as the 3rd highest in the province for average opioid-related deaths per 100,000 population. The provincial average is 8.4,% and Peterborough is nearly doubled to 15.4%. This has caused many community members, social service workers, City workers and healthcare workers to meet together to propose something that will help the city achieve safer drug use and prevent overdoses.
Article Highlights:
The former Greyhound bus station located at 220 Simcoe St. will become home to the Opioid Response Hub. Announced in October, the hub will include two services: the Harm Reduction Works Program by Peterborough Aids Resource Network (PARN), and the launched Mobile Strategic Overdose Response Team (MSORT).
The MSORT team aims to reach people within 24 hours of their overdose and will supply them with mental health and addiction resources, as well as assess their physical and social situations, if they are not choosing to go to the hospital. Because of the negative stigma on people who use drugs, for many people, this option provides less paper trails and attention on the individual as well as more one on one care. The team hopes that the third service will operate out of the building, this being a Safe Consumption Site.
A Supervised/Safe Consumption Site (SCS) a health service that provides people with a safe space for people to consume pre-obtained drugs under health professionals. Staff will be present for emergencies and individuals will have the access to sterile supplies. These services also include access to social services, housing programs, drug treatment and mental health resources. Check out their Virtual Tour of the Proposed Safe Injection Site for more information and a visual representation of what this will look like.
“We are pleased to say that there has been tremendous support in Peterborough for the efforts to establish a Consumption Treatment Services site in the community. A survey conducted by the Peterborough Drug Strategy in November 2019 garnered 1,621 responses and found that 74 percent of participants agree that a CTS site will benefit the community. A separate survey of 122 people in Peterborough who use injection drugs found that 91% would access a Consumption and Treatment Services site in downtown Peterborough.” - Dylan DeMarsh, PARN
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