Pubdate: Fri, 12 Jan 2018 Source: London Free Press (CN ON) Copyright: 2018 The London Free Press Contact: http://www.lfpress.com/letters Website: http://www.lfpress.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/243 Author: Jonathan Sher Page: A2 ONTARIO CLEARS WAY FOR CITY OD-FIGHTING SITE Three weeks after Ontario said it would fast-track creation of temporary safer drug-injection sites, the province has finally cleared away the bureaucratic red tape - a move that will soon lead to a site or sites in London. The red tape - the Ontario government had promised a 14-day turnaround - - was the last barrier to health units across Ontario to creating safer places to lessen the death toll of opioids. The Middlesex-London Health Unit used the last three weeks to have its application ready to go. "This is a very exciting moment," said Dr. Chris Mackie, medical officer of health with the health unit. "We have lost over 400 lives to addiction in the past decade. This opens the door to crucial, life-saving services. It's a small but vital part that will help in solving London's addiction crisis puzzle that is well complemented by other developments, such as the launch of the Nurse-Family Partnership, the Health Unit's HIV Outreach Program, and the recent announcement of more funding for addictions treatment." The move comes after police in London twice seized street drugs laced with the painkiller fentanyl, which can be as much as 100 times more potent than morphine. Even a few grains can be deadly. After a rash of opioid deaths, Ontario Health Minister Eric Hoskins asked the federal government to allow the province to open the temporary overdose prevention sites. "Every life lost to this opioid crisis is an avoidable tragedy and our government is committed to doing everything in our power to combat this public health crisis," Hoskins said Thursday. "Overdose-preventionsiteshaveproven to save lives by offering necessary health services to some of the most vulnerable and marginalized populations." The pop-up locations aren't meant to be long-term sites. They are being planned by many cities across Ontario, including London. Though referrals to addiction treatment will be available, the pop-up locations put less focus on wrap-around supports, brochures, counselling and connecting addicts with outside resources. London is still moving ahead with plans for a permanent supervised drug consumption site, a highly regulated - and often contentious - process many months in the making. The proposal has raised concerns from businesses in downtown and in Old East Village, two areas highlighted as potential locations. Though it's a separate project, Mackie said the team getting the pop-up facility off the ground will draw on some of the facts and public feedback uncovered through the safe-injection site process. Mackie said some of the same areas where a permanent supervised consumption sitemight go - downtown, Old East Village, SoHo and Hamilton Road - are also potential locations for a temporary overdose-prevention site. In Southwestern Ontario, opioids used on the street triggered rare public-health and police warnings this summer, including in London and Sarnia, where a rash of three drug overdoses in mere hours left one person dead. Cocaine contaminated with fentanyl was suspected. Even the volume of legally prescribed opioids has raised eyebrows, with a recent report suggesting some areas of Southwestern Ontario - Sarnia-Lambton, Chatham-Kent, Elgin County and Windsor-Essex - run some of the province's highest rates of opioid drug prescriptions. In November, London police issued a public warning after potentially deadly carfentanil - a synthetic opioid 10,000 times more powerful than morphine - was found in seized drugs. Fentanyl and carfentanil can be mixed into other drugs, such as heroin and crystal meth, unbeknownst to those using them. - --- MAP posted-by: Matt