Official Opposition Leader Ryan Meili is calling on the Sask. Party government to take responsibility for the overdose crisis that is taking lives at an unprecedented rate in Saskatchewan.

“The overdose crisis is spiraling out of control while Scott Moe and the Sask. Party ignore this public health emergency,” said Meili. “This is costing lives and leaving families and communities shattered.”

Meili says that Saskatchewan saw 377 overdose deaths in 2020, more than double the amount in 2019. Meili says there is real fear that Saskatchewan’s overwhelmed crisis response system is at the breaking point.

Ryan Meili suggests examining models elsewhere for safe prescription alternatives and urges the effective use of drug courts so people get treatment instead of punishment for the disease of addiction. As well he says there needs to be an increase in access to the mental health and addiction services, and introduced guaranteed wait times for access, “So that no one is coming and saying I’m ready to make that change and gets told come back in three months, six months, when it will be too late.”

Specifically, Saskatchewan New Democrats are calling on the government to address the overdose crisis by:
• Making Naloxone kits available for free at pharmacies throughout the province
• Approving and funding safe consumption sites in Saskatoon, Regina and throughout the province where possible, while making remote video overdose prevention support available for people in areas without access to those sites
• Guaranteeing timelines for access to mental health and addictions treatment, including dedicated mental health and addictions emergency rooms
• Using drug courts to attach users to treatment and rehabilitation rather than responding to the illness of addiction with incarceration
• Study of safe prescription alternatives used in other jurisdictions and the applicability in Saskatchewan
• Working with law enforcement to crack down on the toxic supply on our streets