An unprepared Ontario faces imminent fentanyl crisis, groups warn
From globeandmail.com
A surge in bootleg fentanyl overdoses in western Canada and in northern U.S. states is now on Ontario’s doorstep as the country’s most populous province faces an imminent public health crisis for which it is woefully unprepared, organizations involved in drug issues are warning.
The Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police and the Waterloo Region Crime Prevention Council are among four groups set to issue an advisory on illicit fentanyl in Ontario’s drug supply Monday.
The groups say all U.S. states bordering Ontario are reporting a significant spike in deaths related to fentanyl, with Cincinnati, Ohio, having an outbreak of 178 overdose cases over a six-day period earlier this month.
In Canada, the problem so far appears most acute in Alberta and British Columbia. Authorities in B.C. have declared a public health overdose emergency as deaths caused primarily by bootleg fentanyl have surged 74 per cent this year through July compared with the same period last year. But the illicit substance is also on streets in Ontario in growing quantities, with police reporting an increasing number of drug seizures this year. The groups warn it’s only a matter of time before a wave of fentanyl fatalities occur in the province if government authorities fail to take the leadership necessary to save lives.
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