A 'garden hose' to fight a forest fire: Advocates for London safer-supply drug program fire back at critics

Advocates of so-called ‘safer-supply’ drug programs are firing back.

This comes after a national conservative columnist published an op-ed calling out a pilot program in London, Ont. that provides safer drug options to patients who might otherwise use street-level opioids.

Dr. Gillian Kolla of the Canadian Institute for Substance Use Research was involved in a study that examined the outcomes of patients involved in the London program, based out of London’s Intercommunity Health Centre.

She said the evidence suggests positive outcomes for the patients involved in the program.

“We looked at people who are part of the safer supply program in London, and we found that they had a significant decrease in their emergency department visits, their hospitalizations, as well as the health care costs that they were accruing to the system that weren’t related to primary care and medication. All of those things went down significantly after they entered the safer-supply program,” she said.

Toronto Sun columnist Brian Lilley cited Public Health Ontario figures which suggest that within the jurisdiction of the Middlesex London Health Unit, opioid-related emergency room visits, hospitalizations, and deaths are going up.

He also criticized the modest size of London’s safer-supply program — 100 individuals over a four year period.

Kolla said he missed the point that it was a pilot program with limited government funding.

“You’re focusing on the small programs that are trying to use a garden hose to put out a massive forest fire, rather than by talking about what we need is a comprehensive response in all of our different sectors to addressing this problem, in which unfortunately we haven’t seen,” she explained. “Instead we’re focusing on pointing fingers at the small place with the garden hose trying to do their best.”

The piece also makes the claim that pharmaceutical-grade pills from the safer-supply program are being sold to buy street-level drugs.

Middlesex London Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Alex Summers did not deny this is the case, but said evidence of diversion continues to be assessed.

“If some of the opioid supply by the safe supply group program happen to be diverted, these are likely going to be more stable than some of these illegally accessed or illegally developed drugs,” he said.

Summers also conceded that London’s opioid crisis is getting worse, and has escalated during the pandemic. He said the safer-supply program is just one tool in fighting it.

“So I think it’s a helpful tool of many that I think will help us decrease the really severe and tragic outcomes that we know are happening in our community from opioids,” he said.