Pubdate: Sat, 10 Feb 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: Dan Brown
Page: A4

OVERDOSE PREVENTIONS SITE OPENS MONDAY

Ontario's first legal drugoverdose prevention site opens Monday in
London.

The site, temporary while the search continues for a permanent site,
will be located at 186 King St.

The site is part of the health unit's response to the opioid crisis
sweeping Canada, whose toll ran to nearly 1,500 people in the first
half of last year alone.

The London site, embebbed within the Regional HIV/AIDS Connection
program location, has been granted an exemption from Canada's criminal
drug laws.

The same location is already home to a needle exchange program and is
familiar to people who inject drugs, the Middlesex London Health Unit
said Friday.

The temporary site, which has provincial approval to operate for at
least six months, will offer a safe place to take drugs under medical
supervision, with clean equipment and easily accessible naloxone, an
opioid antidote, nearby.

The site will operate Monday to Friday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and on
weekends from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
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MAP posted-by: Matt