The London area has a new plan of attack when it comes to preventing, reducing, and eliminating deadly substance abuse.
Community leaders unveiled the new Middlesex-London Community Drug and Alcohol Strategy (CDAS) at Goodwill Industries Tuesday.
The strategy was developed following months of community feedback and collaboration between over 50 local agencies and organizations. It lays out 23 recommendations aimed at addressing the current substance abuse issues in the region and preventing future ones. Nearly 100 associated actions were also identified, 59 of which have been prioritized for implementation over the next three years.
"We all came to the table with a different lens of what was needed and what the issue was," said Rhonda Brittan, co-chair of the CDAS Steering Committee and manager of healthy communities at the Middlesex-London Health Unit. "It took a lot of work and a lot of time to do that work... This is a foundation for action."
The 23 recommendations include advocating for policies and programs to address poverty and homelessness, enhancing community awareness of area services, creating better access to treatment, expanding harm reduction services, developing a community needle syringe recovery program, and monitoring area substance use trends. The 59 priority actions focus on education and awareness, programs and services, supportive environments and collaboration, and policy and advocacy.
Despite the nearly two years it has taken to compile the strategy, Brittan noted there is not yet a dollar figure associated with the implementation process.
"We were able to develop the strategy itself without any dedicated funding, which was excellent because it really is based on that strong collaboration," said Brittan. "As we move into the implementation phase is there a need for funding? Absolutely."
Over the first nine months of the year, 22 people have died from opioid overdoses in the London area. In 2016 and 2017 there were 30 opioid overdose deaths reported across the region.
To help fight the opioid crisis, health officials opened the London’s temporary overdose prevention site on King St. in February. Since then the facility has had more than 7,000 visits by 2,000 unique clients. Over 30 overdoses have been reversed at the site since it opened.
"One of the biggest barriers for people accessing treatment is stigma. It is fear of being judged. It is the stigma that they carry that goes along with the substance use," said Brittan. "No one sat down in their Grade 5 class, when they had to fill out that little form about what do you want to be when you grow up, no one wrote down 'I want to be an addict. I want to be addicted to substances.' Stigma is at the root and that is a place where we can all play a role."
Tracy Law of the London Area Network of Substance Users, who contributed to the CDAS steering committee, is optimistic the recommendations listed in the report will be carried out.
"I am pretty hopeful these will be implemented . Some of the recommendations will take funding and that is where things can be up in the air," said Law. "We have tons of resources to help people and people who will go outside of their work hours to help other people. We just need to be more organized, have more communications, and extend hours to some of the services that are provided."
The strategy was built using a four pillar approach that focuses on prevention, treatment, harm reduction and enforcement.
Updates about the progress being made to implement the recommendations will be posted online at www.mldncdas.com.