Guthrie addresses opioid crisis
On Oct. 16, the mayor of Guelph addressed the community’s growing concerns with the nation-wide opioid crisis.
Mayor Cam Guthrie started the evening by explaining that he decided to hold tonight’s event after being inundated with questions, generally representing concerns about community safety.
Guthrie pointed out that the opioid crisis is not just affecting big cities.He cited that in Ontario, there is one opioid-related death every 10 hours.The forum’s purpose was to address the community’s concerns and to explain how much is already being done.
The first speaker of the evening was Adrienne Crowder, manager of the Wellington Guelph Drug Strategy. Crowder explained how the strategy addresses problems through a four-pillar approach, consisting of:
- Prevention
- Harm reduction
- Treatment and recovery
- Community safety
Guelph’s Chief of Police Jeff DeRuyter, started with the safety pillar. DeRuyter talked about drug trends in recent years, strategies for the drug unit, and strategies for patrol. DeRuyter said that while police have a role, this is not solely a policing or justice issue, adding that “we aren’t going to arrest our way out of this — we need to look at other strategies.” He also stated that trends across North America would indicate that problems will get worse.
The Guelph Wellington Paramedic Service’s Chief Stephen Dewar, spoke about health concerns. Dewar discussed the distribution, training, and use of Naloxone kits, calling them a “very valuable tool” for dealing with opioid abuse but warning that they do not come without side effects. Dewar also spoke about long-term solutions, highlighting the need for education.Dewar stressed the need to provide young people with very real solutions to dealing with stressors, including mental health concerns, rather than drug use.The next speaker, Colin McVicker, program director at Sanguen Health Centre, spoke about the harm reduction pillar. McVicker urged the need to engage with people who have experienced marginalization through empathetic listening. McVicker stressed that this is not an “us vs. them” issue, but one that requires a community response.
Kerry Manthenga, from the Stonehenge Therapeutic Community, addressed the treatment pillar, saying that treatment strategies are now broader than before, and have evolved with an understanding of the causes of addiction. According to Manthenga, the better we can match responses to the causes of addiction, the better the outcomes.
Finally, Rita Sethi from Public Health spoke about the prevention pillar. Like others, Sethi stressed the need to support a community response, saying that “we need to work collectively… to be able to tackle this problem.”
The forum was streamed live to Facebook and is available for viewing online.
Photo by Abbey Butler