Community Awareness Needed to Address Local Opioid Crisis and Instigate Positive Change
Written by Comms Team, March 24, 2021
Peterborough Drug Strategy Partners Embark on Campaign to Reduce Stigma and Promote Evidence-based Solutions
The Peterborough Drug Strategy partners are calling on all residents to enhance their awareness of the opioid crisis affecting our community and support efforts to reduce stigma surrounding substance use.
The call came during a media conference today where partners shared the latest local data on opioid-related harms and described the evidence-based approaches that can lead our community to healthier outcomes, especially those who are affected by addiction.
“This public health crisis deserves our attention just as much as the pandemic, and similarly requires a caring and community-wide approach to address the challenges of harmful substance use,” said Dr. Rosana Salvaterra, Medical Officer of Health. “Whether you use drugs yourself, know someone who does, or just read about opioids in the headlines, we all have a role to play to champion the public health interventions that can truly make a difference in our region.”
The media briefings are one component of an enhanced opioid-related communications plan being developed by Peterborough Drug Strategy partners throughout 2021 to foster greater understanding of the causes of the opioid crisis and evidence-based solutions needed to address it.
“The goal of these future media briefings is to increase public education of substance use, and facilitate the regular release of substance-related data,” explained Dr. Salvaterra. “It is our hope that this communication plan will raise the awareness surrounding the complexities of substance use, the roles and services provided by each agency in our community, and the ways in which the public can help improve the local situation.”
“Peterborough Police Service is a member of the Peterborough Opioid Early Warning Taskforce and a pillar partner of the Peterborough Drug Strategy. The Service supports the plan of media briefings with regard to opioids in our community as a way to inform and educate on this health crisis,” said Inspector Jamie Harnett. “Peterborough Police Service reminds the community that under Canada’s Good Samaritan Drug Overdose Act, anyone who seeks medical help for themselves or for someone else who has overdosed, WILL NOT be charged for possessing or using drugs for personal use.”
“PARN has continued to receive crucial information from Peterborough Public Health and Peterborough Police Services over the past months,” said Dane Record, Executive Director of PARN. “We have been able to share this information with our service users and have been able to shift our service delivery models when there are spikes in reported overdoses or other evidence of highly-tainted drugs in the community. PARN continues to focus on providing services to the people most at-risk for drug poisoning in Peterborough.”
“FourCAST’s concern for opioid-related harms in our community grows daily,” said Donna Rogers, Executive Director of FourCAST. “We are grateful for input from Peterborough Public Health and Peterborough Police Service to provide alerts of high-risk drugs in our community. This collaborative communication strategy allows us to provide individualized contact to those most at risk in our client community, as well as alert our community at large.” The Peterborough Drug Strategy (PDS) is a collective of community-based organizations in Peterborough City and County that actively work towards reducing the harms of substance use for individuals, families, and our community. The collective is based on a leadership model with four pillars: 1) prevention; 2) harm reduction; 3) enforcement; 4) and treatment. This allows the PDS to address issues and undertake projects that are outside of the scope of any one organization.
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For further information, please contact:
Brittany Cadence, Communications Manager
bcadence@peterboroughpublichealth.ca