Latest news with #overdoses
CBC
25-07-2025
- Health
- CBC
Overdoses increasing at Toronto drop-in centres since supervised consumption sites shut down, network says
Social Sharing Overdoses at drop-in centres in Toronto have sharply increased since the provincial government shut down four supervised consumption sites in April, according to a coalition of community agencies. Before the supervised consumption sites closed, there were typically less than 10 overdoses a month at drop-in sites — which include churches, food banks and neighbourhood centres — said Melanie Joy, manager of the Toronto Drop-In Network. Now, these sites are reporting overdoses in the high thirties every month, she said. Joy said this surge is happening throughout the city, not just in the downtown core. "It's been a dramatic increase, without an increase in resources or supports," she told CBC Radio's Metro Morning on Friday. down in 2025 compared to the previous two years. But Joy says TPH does not track overdoses that are happening in drop-in centres, in the community, or at the remaining supervised consumption sites that are still open. Downtown church has become an 'injection site' More than 50 community agencies are part of the Toronto Drop-In Network, including Metropolitan United Church, located at Queen Street E. and Church Street. Between 30 and 50 people use drugs on the church's property over the course of a day, said property manager Frank Cormier. He said he carries Naloxone on him at all times. Last summer, he said he used it about once a month, but now he's using it two or more times a week. WATCH | Province opened 9 HART Hubs on April 1: Ontario opens homelessness and addiction hubs, replacing consumption sites 4 months ago After the safe injection sites closed, Cormier said people who use drugs are lacking spaces to go for support. "Right now, Metropolitan United Church's front lawn has become the injection site," he told Metro Morning. On April 1, the province closed nine supervised consumption sites in Ontario — including four in Toronto — that were located within 200 metres of schools or daycares. The legislation is currently being challenged in court by Kensington Market Overdose Prevention Site, a tenth site that was slated to close but is currently still open due to a legal injunction and fundraising. The nine sites that did close agreed to become Homelessness and Addiction Recovery Treatment (HART) Hubs, an abstinence-based model that provides access to recovery and treatment systems for people struggling with addictions and mental health issues, but does not provide any drug consumption services. Province says 9 of 28 HART Hubs opened in April While the HART Hubs were meant to be fully operational by April 1, Joy said that's "not what we're seeing in reality." As of last month, several of the HART Hubs don't yet appear to have full slates of services up and running. At Toronto Public Health's HART hub, now running temporarily on the Esplanade, only one program of 10 is operational, with the rest planned to get underway this summer or beyond. The province said in a statement the nine HART Hubs replacing supervised consumption sites "opened, as planned on April 1, including those in Toronto, ensuring no gaps in the delivery of mental health support services." The government is spending $550 million to build a total of 28 hubs across the province that will provide people with 24/7 support, the statement reads. It is continuing to work with the remaining 19 hubs "to finalize operational budgets," the statement said. Joy said HART Hubs offer services that both people working in the sector and those who use drugs have long called for as additions to the supervised consumption site model, such as more detox beds, enhanced one-on-one case management, and counselling. But she said the hubs do not include key services typically provided by supervised consumption sites, such as access to clean needles, which help reduce the spread of infectious diseases. "It's frustrating that there wasn't the foresight to include all these services together in one place," Joy said. Meanwhile, Cormier said the government failed to adequately plan the transition from supervised consumption sites to HART Hubs. "The system changed suddenly, drastically, and it didn't seem like anybody thought about what the gap is going to be between one model and the next model," he said.
CTV News
23-07-2025
- Health
- CTV News
Overdoses at Toronto drop-in centres have spiked since closure of 4 supervised consumption sites: network
A Toronto-based network representing more than 50 drop-in centres and allied community agencies says overdoses recorded within these spaces have skyrocketed since new provincial legislation forced four supervised consumption sites (SCS) in the city to shut down this spring. According to data collected by the Toronto Drop-In Network (TDIN), overdoses at its member locations are up by 288 per cent in the month of June, compared to the previous year. The network said it immediately noted a sharp increase in overdoses at the drop-ins under its umbrella in the month following the closures, which were ordered to take effect by no later than March 31. The increase in April amounted to a 75 per cent jump from the same month in 2024. The following month, the city's drop-ins saw 175 per cent more overdoses than in May 2024, TDIN found. TDIN overdoses greaphic The Toronto Drop-In Network has seen a significant increase in the number of overdoses at its faciities since April. (Supplied) To put things in perspective, the network's manager said their member organizations, which serve people who are homeless, marginally housed, or socially isolated, were reporting less than 10 overdoses per month at their sites prior to the March closure of four supervised consumption sites in Toronto. Those numbers have now reached the high-60s, Melanie Joy said. Calling the increase 'staggering' and 'alarming,' Joy said drop-in staff have not been able to reverse every overdose they've encountered, and that there have been some fatalities. 'In addition to the tragic loss of human life, drop-in staff have now been forced to become first responders,' Joy said. 'Imagine what it's like to be serving a meal one minute, responding to an overdose the next, and then returning to meal service. The trauma associated with responding to an overdose cannot be quantified with a data point.' Naxalone kit A naloxone kit is seen in this updated photo. (Alana Everson/CTV News) The Toronto Drop-In Network started collecting overdose data at drop-in centres prior to the March 31 closure of the four supervised consumption sites, adding that in the last three months it has seen a 'devastating jump.' 'We predicted this would happen, and as a community we warned decision-makers. The community mobilized, petitioned, held vigils, and spoke out. But too many of our warnings were ignored,' Joy said. 'The services provided at SCSs reduce overdose deaths, prevent the spread of infectious disease, and connect people to critical community services including housing, mental health support, and care.' Responding to overdoses without supports 'terrifying': drop-in worker Sarah Ovens works at a drop-in centre in the city's downtown east area that previously had four supervised consumption sites in close proximity but is now down to two since this spring. She said she's experienced the reality of the overdose data gathered by TDIN firsthand. 'I hadn't crawled under a bathroom stall door in many years (to help someone experiencing an overdose), and we're back to having to do things like that,' she told CTV News Toronto on Wednesday evening. Sarah Ovens Sarah Ovens, who works at a drop-in centre in Toronto's downtown east area and is also a member of the Toronto Overdose Prevention Society, chats with CTV News Toronto on July 16. Ovens, who is a member of the Toronto Overdose Prevention Society, helped set up and operate Toronto's first unsanctioned overdose prevention site at Moss Park in 2017, which within about a year became a provincially funded consumption and treatment service that provided both supervised consumption as well as a range of services and supports for people who use drugs. 'And the difference between that and having somebody come running in the door screaming that somebody is not breathing outside, and you're not expecting it and you don't know how long they have been out there and have been without oxygen, and you're running to grab the naloxone and somebody call 911 … it's a really terrifying, awful experience for everybody involved,' she shared. 'There's no need for it. We have a proven, evidence-based that is so cheap. It's really so cost-effective to run these places and it's saved so much money to our system.' Ovens said people who use drugs in this city haven't disappeared, just because many of the places where they safely consumed unregulated substances shut down. 'Closing safe injection sites does not make people disappear. These people do not just, like, go poof into thin air. When you close these sites, they go somewhere and they still have struggles,' she said, adding this has led many to consume their substances in and around drop-in centres, in restaurants, businesses, coffee shops, and other unsafe places – often alone. 'This is what it was like before the sites opened and this is why many of us were so desperate to see (them) opened and why we worked so hard to get these sites opened.' Overdose prevention site tent A tent containing naloxone kits and injection implements is seen in Moss Park on Aug. 12, 2017. (CP24) Province reviewed SCSs after bystander killed Two summers ago, the province launched a review of supervised consumption services across Ontario after an innocent bystander was fatally shot near the South Riverdale Community Health Centre, at Queen Street East and Carlaw Avenue in Leslieville. In December, the Ford government passed legislation that made it illegal to operate a supervised consumption site within 200 metres of a school or daycare. The same legislation also prohibited municipalities or organizations from opening new sites or seeking federal money for safe supply programs, without the province's approval. That new law also put a freeze on any new supervised consumption sites. A spokesperson for the Ontario Minister of Health says the provincial government's 'focus is on offering people struggling with mental health and addictions challenges a pathway to treatment, not giving them tools to use illicit drugs.' They suggested that the government is doing that, in part, by transitioning nine of the 10 shuttered sites to Homelessness and Addiction Recovery Treatment (HART) Hubs. 'We are building a system of care focused on connecting people to treatment, support, and recovery, investing $550 million to build 28 new Homelessness and Addiction Recovery Treatment Hubs across the province. (They) provide people facing mental health challenges with 24/7 support to connect them with treatment and recovery options, while giving them support to break the cycle of addiction,' Ema Popovic said in a written statement provided to CTV News Toronto. The province previously said these hubs would offer '24/7 intake, medical monitoring and referrals; outreach, wrap-around services, and supportive housing connection substance use treatment and primary care, as well as outpatient medical specialty services.' None of what province promised has been fulfilled, says drop-in worker Ovens, however, charged that the promises made by the Ford government when it comes to HART Hubs have not be fulfilled. 'This smooth transition with the sites closing is absolutely false. None of what has been promised is available still to this day,' she said. 'People are now overdosing in our bathrooms and they're overdosing in our parking lot.' Popovic, meanwhile, said that 'each HART hub transitioning from a drug injection site, including those in Toronto, opened their doors on April 1st, as planned, and their operations were supported by funding from the province.' 'The Ministry has signed agreements for operational funding with each HART Hub that has met its obligations under its terms and conditions. For Hubs where they have yet to meet their obligations, we have extended start-up funding to continue to support their delivery of comprehensive mental health and addiction support with the goal of signing a permanent operational agreement as soon as possible,' she said. The Sanctuary Drop-In Centre Kathleen, a staff member at The Sanctuary Drop-In Centre in Toronto, opens the doors to a visitor, Thursday, March 26, 2020. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young) Joy, of TDIN, says the same life-saving harm reduction services and programs that were offered at the now-shuttered supervised consumption sites should still be made available to people who use drugs. 'We need infrastructure that includes harm reduction supports and care. Without it, we will continue to see a devastating increase in overdoses and overdose related deaths in drop-in centres and in the broader community,' the TDIN manager said. 'We are urging the province to include harm reduction services in the new HART Hub model, that includes safe consumption, safe inhalation and needle exchange. Harm reduction is the only evidenced-based model of care that prevents the spread of infectious diseases and loss of human life.' With files from CTV News Toronto's Siobhan Morris
CTV News
17-07-2025
- Health
- CTV News
Overdoses at Toronto drop-in centres have spiked since closure of 5 supervised consumption sites: network
A Toronto-based network representing more than 50 drop-in centres and allied community agencies says overdoses recorded within these spaces have skyrocketed since new provincial legislation forced five supervised consumption sites (SCS) across the city to shut down this spring. According to data collected by the Toronto Drop-In Network (TDIN), overdoses at its member sites are up by 288 per cent in the month of June, compared to the previous year. The network said it immediately noted a sharp increase in overdoses at the drop-ins under its umbrella in the month following the closures, which were ordered to take effect by no later than March 31. The increase in April amounted to a 75 per cent jump from the same month in 2024. The following month, the city's drop-ins saw 175 per cent more overdoses than in May 2024, TDIN found. TDIN overdoses greaphic The Toronto Drop-In Network has seen a significant increase in the number of overdoses at its faciities since April. (Supplied) To put things in perspective, the network's manager said their member organizations, which serve people who are homeless, marginally housed, or socially isolated, were reporting less than 10 overdoses per month at their sites prior to the March closure of supervised consumption sites. Those numbers have now reached the high-60s, Melanie Joy said. Calling the increase 'staggering' and 'alarming,' Joy said drop-in staff have not been able to reverse every overdose they've encountered, and that there have been some fatalities. 'In addition to the tragic loss of human life, drop-in staff have now been forced to become first responders,' Joy said. 'Imagine what it's like to be serving a meal one minute, responding to an overdose the next, and then returning to meal service. The trauma associated with responding to an overdose cannot be quantified with a data point.' Naxalone Officials said illegal drugs are being cut with substances that Naloxone -- a medication for opioid overdoses – can't reverse. (Alana Everson/CTV News) The Toronto Drop-In Network started collecting overdose data at drop-in centres prior to the March 31 closure of the supervised consumption sites, adding that in the last three months it has seen a 'devastating jump.' 'We predicted this would happen, and as a community we warned decision-makers. The community mobilized, petitioned, held vigils, and spoke out. But too many of our warnings were ignored,' Joy said. 'The services provided at SCSs reduce overdose deaths, prevent the spread of infectious disease, and connect people to critical community services including housing, mental health support, and care.' Responding to overdoses without supports 'terrifying': drop-in worker Sarah Ovens works at a drop-in centre in the city's downtown east area that previously had four supervised consumption sites in close proximity but is now down to two since this spring. She said she's experienced the reality of the overdose data gathered by TDIN firsthand. 'I hadn't crawled under a bathroom stall door in many years (to help someone experiencing an overdose), and we're back to having to do things like that,' she told CTV News Toronto on Wednesday evening. Sarah Ovens Sarah Ovens, who works at a drop-in centre in Toronto's downtown east area and is also a member of the Toronto Overdose Prevetion Society, chats with CTV News Toronto on July 16. Ovens, who is a member of the Toronto Overdose Prevention Society, helped set up and operate Toronto's first unsanctioned overdose prevention site at Moss Park in 2017, which within about a year became a provincially funded consumption and treatment service that provided both supervised consumption as well as a range of services and supports for people who use drugs. 'And the difference between that and having somebody come running in the door screaming that somebody is not breathing outside, and you're not expecting it and you don't know how long they have been out there and have been without oxygen, and you're running to grab the naloxone and somebody call 911 … it's a really terrifying, awful experience for everybody involved,' she shared. 'There's no need for it. We have a proven, evidence-based that is so cheap. It's really so cost-effective to run these places and it's saved so much money to our system.' Ovens said people who use drugs in this city haven't disappeared, just because many of the places where they safely consumed unregulated substances shut down. 'Closing safe injection sites does not make people disappear. These people do not just, like, go poof into thin air. When you close these sites, they go somewhere and they still have struggles,' she said, adding this has led many to consume their substances in and around drop-in centres, in restaurants, businesses, coffee shops, and other unsafe places – often alone. 'This is what it was like before the sites opened and this is why many of us were so desperate to see (them) opened and why we worked so hard to get these sites opened.' Overdose prevention site tent A tent containing naloxone kits and injection implements is seen in Moss Park on Aug. 12, 2017. (CP24) Province reviewed SCSs after bystander killed Two summers ago, Ontario launched a review of supervised consumption services across Ontario after an innocent bystander was fatally shot near the South Riverdale Community Health Centre, at Queen Street East and Carlaw Avenue in Leslieville. In December, the Ford government passed legislation that made it illegal to operate a supervised consumption site within 200 metres of a school or daycare. The same legislation also prohibited municipalities or organizations from opening new sites or seeking federal money for safe supply programs, without the province's approval. That new law also put a freeze on any new supervised consumption sites. A spokesperson for Ontario's Minister of Health says the provincial government's 'focus is on offering people struggling with mental health and addictions challenges a pathway to treatment, not giving them tools to use illicit drugs.' They suggested that the government is doing that, in part, by transitioning nine of the 10 shuttered sites to Homelessness and Addiction Recovery Treatment (HART) Hubs. 'We are building a system of care focused on connecting people to treatment, support, and recovery, investing $550 million to build 28 new Homelessness and Addiction Recovery Treatment (HART) Hubs across the province. (They) provide people facing mental health challenges with 24/7 support to connect them with treatment and recovery options, while giving them support to break the cycle of addiction,' Ema Popovic said in a written statement provided to CTV News Toronto. The province previously said these hubs would offer '24/7 intake, medical monitoring and referrals; outreach, wrap-around services, and supportive housing connection substance use treatment and primary care, as well as outpatient medical specialty services.' None of what province promised has been fulfilled, says drop-in worker Ovens, however, charged that the promises made by the Ford government when it comes to HART Hubs have not be fulfilled. 'This smooth transition with the sites closing is absolutely false. None of what has been promised is available still to this day,' she said. 'People are now overdosing in our bathrooms and they're overdosing in our parking lot.' Popovic, meanwhile, said that 'each HART hub transitioning from a drug injection site, including those in Toronto, opened their doors on April 1st, as planned, and their operations were supported by funding from the province.' 'The Ministry has signed agreements for operational funding with each HART Hub that has met its obligations under its terms and conditions. For Hubs where they have yet to meet their obligations, we have extended start-up funding to continue to support their delivery of comprehensive mental health and addiction support with the goal of signing a permanent operational agreement as soon as possible,' she said. The Sanctuary Drop-In Centre Kathleen, a staff member at The Sanctuary Drop-In Centre in Toronto, opens the doors to a visitor, Thursday, March 26, 2020. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young) Joy, of TDIN, says the same life-saving harm reduction services and programs that were offered at supervised consumption sites should still be made available to people who use drugs. 'We need infrastructure that includes harm reduction supports and care. Without it, we will continue to see a devastating increase in overdoses and overdose related deaths in drop-in centres and in the broader community,' the TDIN manager said. 'We are urging the province to include harm reduction services in the new HART Hub model, that includes safe consumption, safe inhalation and needle exchange. Harm reduction is the only evidenced-based model of care that prevents the spread of infectious diseases and loss of human life.' With files from CTV News Toronto's Siobhan Morris
BreakingNews.ie
17-07-2025
- Health
- BreakingNews.ie
Availability of cocaine leading to more hospitalisations
The Health Research Board has said the availability of cocaine has led to an increase in hospitalisations and overdoses. There are warnings of the potential for further increases in use and harm after new research showed the number of cocaine seizures grew from 566 in 2003 to more than 4,000 in 2023. Advertisement The Health Research Board lists a range of indicators that point to a worsening problem. Speaking to Newstalk, Cormac O'Keeffe from the Irish Examiner said prices of cocaine have remained the same. "Prices have not gone up and that is also in the context that seizures have gone up. So seizures have gone up, but it's more available, at a higher purity," he said. "It just shows the scale of the problem and the sheer amount of cocaine that's coming across the Atlantic." Addiction Specialist Dr Garrett McGovern outlined the consequences of drug use. "It was great that they actually did the statistics for hospital admissions and stuff like that because what we know from a lot of drugs we treat, including alcohol, they're far more likely to end up with a complication of their drug or alcohol use in a hospital than they are coming to us to treat their addiction. That's the sad part of it," he said.
Yahoo
11-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Minnesota gets more opioid settlement dollars; what does that mean for Stearns County?
More opioid settlement dollars are making its way to Minnesota. The state's attorney general announced another settlement deal July 10. Eight opioid pill manufacturers agreed to settlements totaling $720 million nationwide, of which Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said $9.37 million could go to the North Star State. 'No amount of money can undo the tremendous harm that opioid manufacturers and peddlers have inflicted on families across Minnesota,' Ellison wrote in a statement. More: St. Cloud's increase in deadly overdoses: How families, officials are fighting back The deals would bring Minnesota's total opioid settlement yield to $633 million, according to the attorney general's office. The state made an agreement with Minnesota's cities and country's in 2024 where 75% of the settlement funds are allocated to local government bodies while 25% goes to the state. This agreement between municipalities, counties and the state requires funds to be used to combat the opioid crisis. Stearns County has the Opioid Community Advisory Committee, which helps fund community initiatives to combat opioid use. Overdoses have increased in St. Cloud from two in 2018 to 14 in 2024, with a high of 21 overdoses in 2023, according to St. Cloud Police Department data obtained by the St. Cloud Times. The first round of Stearns County opioid settlement grants sent $621,000 to eight groups. These groups were the Central Minnesota Violent Offenders Task Force, Effective Living Center, Hooyo Hour Organization, Metro Treatment of Minnesota, Sartell Police Department, Too Much Talent, Ultimate Success and the YES Network. More: Meet the Minnesota potter behind popular whimsical vending machine artworks The eight defendants in the settlement are Mylan (Viatris), Hikma, Amneal, Apotex, Indivior, Sun, Alvogen and Zydus, according to the Ellison's office. "It is still important that we hold wrongdoers accountable for their actions and help those who are suffering, which these settlements do," Ellison wrote. "I will continue to aggressively pursue accountability from these companies and ensure the money they made by pushing opioids is brought back to Minnesota and used on treatment, recovery, and prevention.' Sign up for our alerts to receive the latest updates on important news. Corey Schmidt covers politics and courts for the St. Cloud Times. He can be reached at cschmidt@ This article originally appeared on St. Cloud Times: Minnesota could get $9.37 million in nationwide opioid settlement
