International Overdose Awareness Day. Credit: Twitter handle
Toronto/August 31 as Overdose Awareness Day was proclaimed today by the city of Toronto. Observed annually, with local communities around the world coming together, this day reminds us to acknowledge the grief of family and friends left behind who have died due to drug poisonings.
At City Hall, a flag is raised on the courtesy pole to raise awareness of overdose and reduce the stigma of drug-related death and the CN Tower and Toronto Sign will be lit in purple tonight in recognition of International Overdose Awareness Day.
This day also seeks to create a better understanding of the increased toxicity of the unregulated drug supply and the impact of negative stigma and discrimination experienced by people who use drugs and their communities.
Placed today in participating City buildings including the lobby areas of City Hall and Metro Hall, are empty purple chairs symbolizing a space held for those lost due to drug poisoning.
The increasingly toxic supply of unregulated drugs as well as the drug poisoning crisis, a major driver of drug poisoning and drug poisoning death continue to be urgent public health issues in Toronto and across Ontario. The number of both fatal and non-fatal drug poisonings across the city over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic has seen a dramatic increase.
560 confirmed opioid toxicity deaths in Toronto, the greatest number of drug poisoning deaths in Toronto in one year with an 87 percent increase compared to 2019 was revealed by the preliminary data for 2021 from the Office of the Chief Coroner for Ontario (OCC).
More than one in four accidental opioid toxicity deaths in Toronto was in people experiencing homelessness amounted to (28 percent) reported by the OCC in 2021, an increase from one in ten deaths (11 percent) in 2018.
According to the recent Toronto Public Health data during the first seven months of 2022, Toronto Paramedic Services responded to 172 fatal suspected opioid overdose calls, the vast majority of which were preventable.
The increasingly toxic unregulated and unpredictable opioid supply is now dominated by fentanyl contains varying concentrations and may contain unexpected drugs.
Drug checking services in Toronto continue to find unexpected, highly potent drugs in samples of drugs such as xylazine (a veterinary drug not meant for use in humans), benzodiazepines, and stimulants, alongside opioids, directly contributing to drug toxicity deaths in Toronto.
Committed to addressing the drug poisoning crisis through the implementation of the Toronto Overdose Action Plan, Toronto supports collective actions to save lives and improve the health and well-being of people who use drugs and the whole community.
Supporting more than 60 agencies across Toronto to offer harm reduction supplies and services at more than 100 locations and access points, Toronto provides harm reduction and treatment services through TPH’s The Works.
Established in December 2020, the Integrated Prevention and Harm Reduction Initiative, or iPHARE is a multi-pronged effort by the City and community agencies to address opioid-related deaths in Toronto’s shelter system and provided more than $9 million in funding for a range of harm reduction supports.
The expansion of all critical services supporting people who use drugs, including harm reduction and evidence-based treatment, has been advocated by both TPH and the Toronto Board of Health by the decriminalization of the simple possession of drugs with the expansion of safer supply programs, along with health and social supports for people who use drugs. All levels of government need to address drug poisoning public health emergency.
More information on International Overdose Awareness Day is available at www.overdoseday.com/.
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