Harm reduction workers and advocates are planning to open an illegal overdose prevention site in Windsor to help people struggling with addictions.
Windsor West NDP MPP Lisa Gretzky said the province needs to get moving on overdose prevention sites, also known as safe injection sites, to give people with addictions the care they need. A letter to the Minister of Health from the Windsor Essex Community Health Centre states that overdose prevention sites have saved 917 lives since they began operating in mid-2017. The letter called on the minister to take immediate action and open more overdose prevention sites.
“That’s 917 families who didn’t receive the worst news possible. That’s 917 people who still have a chance to build a better life,” said Gretzky. “Will the minister listen to these experts? Will she open more life-saving sites?”
Gretzky said the province's failure to open opioid prevention sites is forcing harm reduction workers in Windsor to risk criminal prosecution to open an unsanctioned site.
“Windsor continues to struggle with rising poverty, one in four children now grow up in low-income households – our community has also been hit particularly hard by the opioid crisis,” said Gretzky. “So much so that local harm reduction workers and advocates are planning to open an unsanctioned overdose prevention site, because they just can’t wait any longer for this Conservative government to step up to the plate."