ANALYSIS: Ontario’s Shuttering of Drug Sites Near Schools Part of a National Trend

The Ontario government’s recent ban on supervised drug consumption sites near schools and child care centres is the latest part of a countrywide step back from the national harm reduction approach to drug addiction.
The ideology of harm reduction, which advocates for a so-called safer supply of opioids and the decriminalization of hard drugs, held a dominant position in Canadian addiction policy as recently as last year.
It has since fallen out of favour as politicians, addressing a growing discontent among the public, have shifted their focus to treatment and rehabilitation.
Those critical of the harm reduction policy have pointed to increases in crime, drug overdose deaths, and illegal drug distribution since implementation of supervised drug sites and safer supply drug programs.
The aim of harm reduction, rather than focusing on treating addiction, is to reduce the risk of people taking illegal drugs.
The CMHA calls harm reduction “an evidence-based, client-centred approach” that includes supervised consumption services, the distribution of supplies, drug checking, and safer supply programs.
Safer supply programs provide those at high risk of overdose with prescribed drugs as an alternative to purchasing illegal substances off the street.
Those focusing on more traditional approaches to drug use and addiction say there is no such thing as safe drugs, not even those coming from safer supply programs.
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has been vocal about safe supply drugs and the effect of such programs on the communities where they are offered.
“Clients overwhelmingly indicated that since beginning prescribed safer supply, their use of fentanyl and stimulants had decreased or stopped,” the report said.
Police Chief Thai Truong said the diversion of safer supply in London is no different from cocaine trafficking because it is happening at both the street level and at higher levels of organized crime. He said London’s low cost of hydromorphone–the main safer supply drug–makes diversion a lucrative pastime for criminals.
The federal police force told The Epoch Times earlier this year that investigators have witnessed people coming out of pharmacies with safer supply drugs being immediately approached by alleged drug dealers.
“They’re being bulk collected,” Cpl. Jennifer Cooper said. “It’s large amounts. So it’s going somewhere.”
The lawsuit accuses both the province and the federal government of being lax in the administration of safe supply programming.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford has been critical of the federally funded program, saying the government should be focused on rehabilitation rather than enabling continued drug use.
“As far as I’m concerned the federal government is the biggest drug dealer in the entire country,” Ford said at a recent press conference. “It’s a failed policy, simple as that.”
Ford was critical of the sites despite two provincially funded reports recommending that existing drug consumption sites remain open. The reports said such sites are an effective way to prevent overdose deaths.
The premier said the failure of B.C.’s pilot project provides proof that decriminalization is not effective.
Toronto’s medical officer of health, Dr. Eileen de Villa, has described decriminalization as a tool that’s “supported by the best available evidence.” She said such a move would help address the city’s “drug toxicity epidemic” and prevent overdose deaths.
The number of apparent opioid overdose deaths reported in Canada in 2023, 8,049, is 7 percent higher than in 2022, while opioid-related poisoning hospitalizations and ER visits are 16 percent and 17 percent higher respectively, the report said. Overdose-related emergency medical service calls have also risen and are 18 percent higher.
A total of 44,592 deaths have been linked to opioids between January 2016—when national surveillance began—and December 2023, said the report.
In the June news release, Mental Health and Addictions Minister Ya’ara Saks said the rise in overdoses is driven by an illegal synthetic drug supply that is “unpredictable and increasingly toxic,” with potent drugs like fentanyl and other synthetic opioids flooding the illegal supply.
According to the federal report, 82 percent of 2023’s opioid overdose deaths involved fentanyl, a percentage that has increased by 44 percent since 2016.
In 2023, 87 percent of all accidental suspected opioid toxicity deaths in Canada occurred in British Columbia, Alberta, and Ontario.
Aside from safe supply and consumption sites, Saks said Ottawa plans to tackle the problem by investing in substance use prevention, harm reduction, and treatment.