Province not funding fight against opioid deaths

Health unit calling for changes to address growing number of users shifting away from needles

The absence of a sustainably funded, consistently available service to safely consume drugs via inhalation is a critical factor undermining local and provincial efforts to prevent drug poisoning deaths

Deaths due to opioid inhalation far outnumber those by opioid injection in Peterborough but finding funding to fight it has been a struggle for local health officials.

A Peterborough Public Health report prepared for Wednesday’s board of health meeting calls for legislation changes at the provincial level that are needed sooner than later, allowing either for a new stream of funding to address the issue or for a modification of current rules to allow health units to redirect current funding toward this need.

In Peterborough city and county, drug toxicity deaths due to inhalation have increased annually since 2019. In 2021, 45.5 per cent of opioid-related deaths were attributed to smoking opioids, compared to 9.1 per cent who died via injection drug use.

But the health unit says the community has had to rely on public donations to an unsanctioned site to help those turning to inhalation for their opioid needs because an agreement with the province on consumption and treatment services doesn’t extend to people who use drugs by intranasal, oral consumption or inhalation.

The Tweak Easy overdose prevention site has operated for a year in an outdoor tent, relying on weekly donations to keep operating.

Since the service began on Sept. 30, 2021, the site’s volunteers have supported a total of 925 visitors, of which 83 have been IV users compared to 277 who accessed the service for inhalation purposes.

In June, the Peterborough Consumption Treatment Services (CTS) site opened within the Opioid Response Hub at 220 Simcoe St.

As of Oct. 24, the site has had 3,021 visits to the service by 198 individuals. Staff have reversed 12 drug poisonings, resulting in zero deaths, the report states.

This year, through Oct. 31, there have already been 55 suspected drug-related fatalities in the region.

“These early results suggest that the Peterborough CTS is an effective tool that is supporting Peterborough’s collaborative response to the drug poisoning crisis,” the report states. “However, the continuing high rate of drug-related fatalities demonstrates that significant gaps remain.”

The report suggests there is growing local, provincial and national evidence demonstrating an increasing proportion of drug toxicity deaths and poisonings due to inhalation of opioids compared to other modes of use.

There is evidence of an apparent shift toward non-injection routes of consumption in the local health unit region, the report states.

For example, in 2020, for every transaction involving needles, two transactions involved the distribution of safer smoking supplies, including bowl pipes, foils, and stems. By 2021, transactions involving safer smoking supplies doubled from 5,703 to 10,983, outpacing transactions involving needles by six to one.

“The absence of a sustainably funded, consistently available service to safely consume drugs via inhalation is a critical factor undermining local and provincial efforts to prevent drug poisoning deaths and build trust with the community of people who use drugs.”

The position of local health officials is that legislative and policy changes, combined with enhanced funding for established CTS sites, are needed to allow for the implementation of safer smoking services to effectively address the needs of service users that consume drugs via inhalation.