TORONTO — A string of overdose deaths in a pocket of Canada’s most populous city highlights the urgent need for new overdose prevention sites, an advocacy group said Wednesday, calling on Ontario to reverse a decision to pause the opening of such facilities. The Toronto Overdose Prevention Society said a public safety alert from police about seven deaths believed linked to opioid use over 12 days shows that overdose prevention services should be expanding. “This safety warning underlines why (overdose prevention sites) are so necessary, and why ‘pausing’ them in the middle of a public health crisis is so wrongheaded,” it said. Toronto Mayor John Tory said overdose prevention sites are one of the ways “all three governments” are working on addressing the opioid epidemic. Overdose prevention sites are approved by the province and are temporary facilities set up to address an immediate need in a community, while safe injection sites are more permanent locations approved by the federal government after a more extensive application process.

Source: National Post August 15, 2018 20:36 UTC