After recent news of three deaths and two hospitalizations from suspected drug overdoses this week, a temporary overdose prevention site has been approved for downtown London.
As first reported by CTV News, the site is at 186 King St.
The prevention site will share space with the Regional HIV/AIDS Connection.
The Counterpoint Needle and Syringe Program currently operates there so workers are already familiar to people who use injection drugs, the Middlesex-London Health Unit said in a release.
The Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care has provided one-time funding of $130,700.
The facility is expected to open in mid-February and will provide people who use injection drugs with a space where they can use those drugs under the supervision of health professionals in order to prevent overdose deaths.
The creation of a TOPS in London became possible in December of 2017, when the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care announced an expanded response to Ontario’s opioid drug crisis.
“I know my community in London has been concerned by this growing crisis, and I am proud that we will be the first city in Ontario to have an overdose prevention site,.” said Deb Matthews, MPP London North Centre.
