Last week, the staff at an overdose prevention center (OPC) in London, Ontario were unable to save a client who overdosed on a drug consumed at the facility, even after they rushed the person to a nearby hospital for further resuscitation. Harm reduction opponents have already begun pointing to the event as an argument against Canada's 38 OPCs. The coroner's report and toxicology results are not yet available, so it is important not to jump to conclusions. We don't yet know what substances contaminated the drug the deceased obtained on the black market. It is possible there were other substances in addition to or in place of fentanyl that rendered naloxone less effective as a reversal agent. For example, an increasing number of toxicology studies are finding another synthetic opioid, isotonitazene or "iso," which can be ten times more powerful than fentanyl, present in the victim's system. In late 2023, British law enforcement reported a big influx of this class of opioids called nitazenes had entered the illicit drug market in the UK.
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Table of Contents
- Last week the staff at an overdose prevention center OPC in London 1
- Ontario were unable to save a client who overdosed on a drug consumed 1
- The coronerʼs report and toxicology results are not yet available so it is 1
- Regardless of what the report ultimately reveals it is important to maintain 1
- OPCs have a more-than-30-year track record of preventing overdose 1
- OPCs are providing services in 91 communities in 16 countries. They 1
- My research at the time found no report of any overdose deaths from any 1
- However it was never realistic to believe that staff at OPCs would be able 1
- Victoriaʼs Canadian Institute for Substance Use Research told CTV News 1
- As someone who has worked in a supervised consumption site 2
- A May 2022 study found that bystanders successfully reversed 95 percent 2
- Medical Technicians EMTs attempted to save with naloxone died on the 2
- While it is wrong to claim that overdose deaths are completely prevented at 2
- OPCs it remains the case that they are exceedingly rare. 2
- Just as it would be unreasonable to close emergency rooms for not being 2
