'Disregard for human life is disturbing': Addressing the opioid crisis in London, Ont.

It is evident there is an ongoing opioid crisis facing the City of London and officials say it will take time and money to address concerns.

The Middlesex-London Paramedic Service (MPLS) has responded to 148 opioid related overdoses so far in 2022 — with 25 incidents in the first six days of April alone.

It is evident there is an ongoing opioid crisis facing the City of London and officials say it will take time and money to address concerns.

The director of harm reduction services with regional HIV/Aids connection, Sonja Burke wants to address common misconceptions that surround mental health and drug addiction.

“People don’t wake up and say, ‘hey this is the life I would like to have. I would like to be homeless, I would like to use substances.’ Like that is not how this happens,” says Burke.

Carepoint is a provincially funded service that allows supervised consumption of illicit substances. It’s intended to prevent overdose, reduce the spread of infectious disease and increase access to health and social services.

Burke says concerns by local area tenants and business owners are not necessarily a result of Carepoint, but rather a city-wide issue.

“The picture is much bigger you know. We have hospital beds shutting down, we have funding limitations, so all these things are creating the perfect storm, for challenges across our community,” she says.