Visits to London's supervised drug consumption site drop by half amid deepening opioid crisis
Troubling trends are emerging as the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on street level drug use comes to light.
According to a report for the Middlesex-London Board of Health, opioid overdose deaths rose from an average of eight per month in 2020, to a monthly average of 12 during the first half of 2021.
Meanwhile, the number of visits to the consumption and treatment services site at 186 King Street, where supervised drug use takes place, dropped by more than 50 per cent during the height of the pandemic:
- 28,859 visits in 2019
- 20,047 visits in 2020
- 14,013 visits in 2021
HIV/AIDS Connection, which operates the site, points to pandemic restrictions, related staffing challenges and nearby construction for the drop in visits.
“As COVID [cases] went up, our restrictions went up, but our space was not changing. We ended up moving from four booths down to one [booth] at times,” explained Sonja Burke with HIV/AIDS Connection.
“I’m not going to have any friends left pretty soon,” worries 39-year-old Charles, who asked CTV News London not use his last name, after losing a close friend last month to a fentanyl overdose.
Yet, he remains an infrequent visitor to the supervised drug consumption site.
“I use it once in a while, I’m an occasional user, but otherwise I do it safe [here],” he explained from a cardboard shelter in a Dundas Street doorway.
Drug use in a core area parking lot in London, Ont. on May 18, 2022. (Daryl Newcombe/CTV News London)Burke says everyone has their own unique barriers to visiting a supervised consumption site — the key is to find out why and without judgement.
“We need to build trusting relationships and sometimes it takes multiple referrals,” she added.
Burke says progress is being made to construct the city’s permanent consumption and treatment services site at 446 York Street. It will be designed to adapt to some of the challenges experienced over the past two years if pandemic restrictions return.
“The facility is much larger, we are going to have much more room for wrap-around services,” said Burke.
Burke adds that visits are starting to rebound since pandemic restrictions eased.
The Middlesex-London Board of Health will receive an update about the local opioid crisis at its meeting on May 19.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Several flight attendants from Pakistan have gone missing after landing in Canada
Multiple flight attendants from Pakistan International Airlines have abandoned their jobs and are believed to have sought asylum in Canada in the past year and a half, a spokesperson for the government-owned airline says.
BREAKING Ottawa public school board, 3 Toronto-area school boards launch lawsuit against social media giants
The Ottawa-Carleton District School Board and three school boards in the Toronto-area have launched legal action against social media giants, accusing them of "disrupting students' fundamental right to education."
Doctors visiting a Gaza hospital are stunned by the war's toll on Palestinian children
An international team of doctors visiting a hospital in central Gaza was prepared for the worst. But the gruesome impact Israel’s war against Hamas is having on Palestinian children still left them stunned.
Crypt near Marilyn Monroe and Hugh Hefner could fetch US$400,000 at auction
A one-space mausoleum crypt in the vicinity of Marilyn Monroe and Hugh Hefner will go on auction Saturday, when it is expected to reach between US$200,000 and $400,000.
Tipping is off the table at this Toronto restaurant
A Toronto restaurant introduced a surprising new rule that reduced the cost of a meal and raised the salaries of staff.
A fight to protect the dignity of Michelangelo's David raises questions about freedom of expression
Michelangelo's David has been a towering figure in Italian culture since its completion in 1504. But in the current era of the quick buck, curators worry the marble statue's religious and political significance is being diminished.
A Nigerian woman reviewed some tomato puree online. Now she faces jail
A Nigerian woman who wrote an online review of a can of tomato puree is facing imprisonment after its manufacturer accused her of making a “malicious allegation” that damaged its business.
Premiers not being truthful about carbon tax, Trudeau says while sparks fly in Ottawa
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Conservative premiers across the country are 'not telling the truth' when it comes to the carbon tax. Trudeau's comments came as fresh sparks were flying in Ottawa at a recalled House of Commons committee.
Far North police 'dispatch' polar bear stalking schoolyard
Police and local hunters in an Ontario Far North First Nation community have “dispatched” a polar that was showing abnormal behaviour and treating the area as a hunting ground.