Deadly Stigma: new report sounds alarm on toxic drug overdoses in Simcoe Muskoka region
Global News
Advocates in the Simcoe Muskoka region are calling for more action to address the toxic drug poisoning in the area.
Advocates in the Simcoe Muskoka region are calling for more action to address toxic drug poisoning in the Simcoe Muskoka area.
The report released by the Canadian Drug Policy Coalition calls for swift actions to address the drug poisoning crisis in Barrie and highlights what advocates say is a need for decriminalization.
The report comes from a two-day community dialogue in Barrie called Getting to Tomorrow: Ending the Overdose Crisis in October 2021, held in partnership between the John Howard Society Simcoe and Muskoka, Indigenous Harm Reduction Network, and the Gilbert Centre.
The agencies involved brought together people with lived experiences, harm reduction staff, city officials, and Indigenous people to look at how to move forward.
“We are focused on empowering people who use drugs to participate in the decisions that impact their lives, which includes paying people a fair wage for the work they do. More than anyone else, people who use drugs know what will help address the toxic drug crisis,” said Sarah Tilley of the Gilbert Centre.
“We need to make sure that people who share their knowledge aren’t putting themselves at greater risk of criminal scrutiny. We must continue to advocate for decriminalization at a federal level.”
She said the issue is emphasized by the fact that several people with lived experiences involved in the study have since passed away from reasons directly or indirectly related to drug use.
Preliminary data from the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit shows that there were 111 confirmed and probable opioid-related deaths in Simcoe Muskoka in the first 10 months of 2022, which was 21 per cent lower than the 151 deaths in the first 10 months of 2021, but is still substantially higher than what was observed before the pandemic (2017-2019), both locally and across the province.
The cuts come as Global Affairs Canada sets out its plans to meet budget belt tightening requirements laid out by Prime Minister Mark Carney last year.
An aviation expert says Canada is losing more air traffic controllers to retirement than it is hiring, despite efforts to ramp up recruitment.
Nova Scotia Power is seeking a 3.8 per cent power rate bump retroactive to Jan. 1, and a 4.1 per cent hike that would come into effect Jan. 1, 2027.
It’s the fourth time in less than a month that a large vehicle has collided with an overpass in Saskatchewan. Three of those incidents have been reported in Saskatoon.
As part of its upcoming budget, the province is planning to ban people from reselling tickets to sports matches and concerts for more than their face value.
The company, White Wilderness Heliskiing, issued a statement on Tuesday saying the avalanche happened near Mt Knauss on the ski run Iridium Shoulder.
Three of the organization's service vehicles were badly damaged in a vandalism incident that happened sometime between midnight Friday and Saturday morning.
As the winter weather approaches, Saskatchewan residents react to the incoming inclement weather. Many are done with the winter, but a handful of businesses will benefit.
Prairie Harm Reduction said its investigation into the shortfall has just begun, but added it does not believe there is evidence of fraud, theft or personal misuse of funds.
A new poll finds there is growing support for a proposal to lower an Old Age Security (OAS) threshold for some Canadians in order to help reduce the federal government's deficit.
Canadian and American government officials discussed a proposed revival of the canceled Keystone XL oil pipeline during a meeting in Houston, Tx. this week.
This will apply to all workers in federally regulated industries such as air transportation, banking, most federal Crown corporations, ports and telecommunication, among others.
International immigration to Canada is slowing but newcomers still helped six Atlantic cities grow more than the national average last year.