Join the gathering to protest the Ontario government’s chop of half of the –Supervised Drug Consumption and Treatment Services (CTS) in Ontario
In the name of good for the community the Ontario government chopped half of the province’s–Supervised Drug Consumption and Treatment Services (CTS).
Please join Ottawa groups for International Overdose Awareness Day who are protesting this decision
Friday August 30th, Human Rights Monument, 11–1 hashtag#OverdoseAwarenessDay
I urge all harm reduction workers, frontline staff, safe supply advocates and community directors to unite against the recent closures of Ontario’s safe consumption sites.
This devastating decision puts countless lives at risk, and we cannot remain silent. It’s time to come together, raise awareness, and form a collective force dedicated to developing and advocating for current and future harm reduction programs.
Let’s stand in solidarity to protect the health and dignity of those we serve.
Ross Wilson – Founder, Harm Reduction Specialist and Hospice Chaplain At Safe
There are many ways to understand the role of supervised drug consumption and treatment services (CTS). It originally had been framed as one of the four pillars of Health Canada’s Canadian Drug and Substances Strategy: prevention, treatment, harm reduction, and enforcement.
(image: 4 pillars, wrapped together)
Note the wrapping together of the pillars, suggesting to me that while its easy to glean solely onto the harm reduction efforts with street drug consumption, the raw and toughest part of addiction the pillars are built for synergy between them.
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Health Canada Summary of how we got to the overdose crisis
…The overdose crisis has been driven by a dynamic and complex set of factors-but can generally be divided into four phases
The late 1990s to 2010 marked phase one of the overdose crisis which consisted of an overreliance on opioid prescriptions. During this phase, opioids were considered legitimate medications prescribed to treat acute or chronic paint, but the healthcare system’s overreliance on opioids resulted in a large numbers of Canadians being exposed to medications with high potential for higher risk use. The years 2010 to 2015 marked the second phase of the overdose crisis, which was characterized by an increase in diverted or illegally produced opioids. During this time period, there was an increase in diverted or illegally produced opioids bought and sold on the illegal market, which enabled opioid exposure among people who use drugs. The years 2015 to 2020 marked the third phase of the crisis where there was an unprecedented rise in synthetic opioids and analogues. During this phase, highly toxic synthetic opioids like fentanyl and its analogues were increasingly contaminating the illegal drug supply and driving the increasing mortality rates. From 2020 to the present is the fourth phase of the crisis where there is fentanyl dominance and widespread toxicity and unpredictability in the illegal drug supply. Currently, fentanyl continues to dominate the illegal drug market. The illegal supply remains highly unpredictable, with the introduction of stimulants, depressants and other emerging contaminants. There is increasing uncertainty as to what drugs are circulating in the illegal supply. In 2023, the illegal drug supply is more toxic than ever with fentanyl being widespread, both as a drug of choice as well as one of many contaminants found in other substances.
It’s clear the Ontario Government lost its way to actually work with the addiction community to build effective synergy between these pillars. https://ottawa.ctvnews.ca/somerset-west-supervised-drug-consumption-site-to-close-under-new-ontario-rules-1.7007864
Its way to easy to say, just say no.
(image: Nancy Regan, in early 1980’s campaigning on “just say no.”)