Multiple opioid-related deaths in Windsor in the past 'week and a half,' says advocate

According to Brandon Bailey of the Windsor Overdose Prevention Society, there have been a number of opioid-related deaths just in the past "week and a half."

That news follows the release of a new report Wednesday from the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI), which says more than 2,000 Canadians have died of opioid abuse this year — bringing the death toll to 9,000 since 2016.

That same report says emergency rooms visits due to opioid poisoning increased 73 per cent in Ontario from 2016 to 2017 — but Windsor was not among the cities with the highest rates.

The report specifies that some cities noticed a decrease in emergency room visits, partly due to the availability of naloxone and the presence of supervised injection sites. But Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens said he remains unconvinced that the sites have a place in the city.

"They create spaces there that I would not like to replicate in my city. I talked to the former mayor of Vancouver earlier this year who tells me that the vast majority of people who are overdosing and, in fact, dying are doing so in private residences," said Dilkens.

"So even with safe injection sites, they're still finding that their death rate because of overdoses is climbing."

Dilkens added the opioid crisis is too big for Windsor to handle on its own and that the province needs to step up and fulfil the promise Ontario Premier Doug Ford made to allocate about $2 billion toward mental health and addiction.

But according to Brandon Bailey of the Windsor OPS, Dilkens' reasoning for opposing a supervised injection site in the city isn't based on fact. He said Dilkens' remarks are based on "his own thought process" and suggests the Windsor mayor learn more about the sites by talking to people.

"When we had our information tent that was set up, we had numerous people stop by there and they asked us if they were allowed to use it and we told that that we weren't allowed to let them," said Bailey.

"We've had many people tell us that they would use it if there was one."

Bailey also said there's no reason police can't carry naloxone kits, and added the kits won't do anyone any harm if they are not needed.

The CIHI tells CBC News there was a slight decrease in hospitalizations due to opioid poisoning across Canada in the first three months of 2018, but it's unclear if that is a new trend or just a blip.