An addictions strategy is desperately needed and any more delays means more people will die.
That from the NDP’s Mental Health and Addictions Critic, Danielle Chartier who says there has been a dramatic rise in overdose calls and fatalities in Saskatchewan.
In the past 2 months, the number of overdose deaths in Regina has nearly doubled, from 33 to 63, and in one week in August, Medavie Health Services in Saskatoon responded to 100 overdose calls.
Chartier would like to see more action from the government to address the increase of opioids and crystal meth addictions.
She notes the government has chosen not to fund safe consumption sites.
The former AIDS Saskatoon, now known as Prairie Harm Reduction, was set to receive provincial funding for its safe consumption site, but the money wasn’t there in this fiscal year’s budget.