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HB NEWS HALTON POLICE TO PROVIDE NALOXONE KITS TO THOSE LEAVING PRISON DAVID LEA dlea@metroland.com Halton _ police will be inapilotpro- medication that can quick- ly reverse an opioid over- dos “Rates of opioid- -related fatal will see them distributing naloxone to n. Police Board voted during the Thursday, Oct. 27 meeting to approve the police ser- vice's Participation in the Ontari Health's Harm Reduction Program Enhancement pi- lot project. Inareport to the board, Halton Police Chief Ste- phen Tanner noted the in- tent of this take-home nal- oxone program is toreduce the stigma associated with the distribution of nalox- one kits to the community and to provide naloxone kits to vulnerable popula- Ss. Naloxoneisa life-saving overdoses, have increased ‘icantly in Ontario," disproportionate increas- es in opioid-related harm during the pandemic. This includes people experienc- ing incarceration or who have been recently re- leased from prison." Tanner noted that Hal- ton police will be responsi- ble for developing and im- plementing policies and processes for the distribu. tion of the nalox« Healso pointed ae that where appropriate, Halton police staff will refer those who receive naloxone kits to harm reduction agen- cies and counsel, educate and support them ina non- Graham Paine/Metroland Halton police will begin distributing naloxone kits to those leaving prison. judgmental way. The Halton Police Over- dose Coordination Group, which was established in 2019 to oversee the long- term co-ordination of the police service's strategies in response to overdoses in the community, said pro- viding naloxone upon re- jease to people in custody luable tool in over- dose first-aid treatment. It was also pointed out that Halton police will not need to pay for this nalox- 01 ne. The Region of Halton will deliver the naloxone kits free of charge to Hal- ton police, provided fund. ing continues from the Ministry of Health. “Sounds like a wonder- ful initiative," said Halton Police Board chair Jeff Knoll. oll. There is no shortage of urgency to get naloxone to as many vulnerable popu- lations as possible. In 2021, Halton police re- sponded to 361 suspected drug poisonings, a 50 per cent increase over the pre- vious year. Of those individuals, 52 did not survive. Approximately 60 per cert or tne the suspected drug 21 were at- tributed 1 to opioids, with e rest associated with prescription drugs. It is also worth noting that of the 52 people who died, half were alone at the time of their deaths. _ Halton police have pre- alone so if something goes wrong, someone is there to = get help or administer nal- oxone. peo have also said that © e of the unpredict- ° cate “of the street drug 3 supply, users should go slow, using just a small amount of the drug first to check its strength. jose who are with someone during an over- dose, police ask that they not run, but rather call 911, noting the Good Samaritan Drug Overdose Act pro- vides broad legal protec- tions for anyone seeking emergency support during an overdose. This means citizens, in- IN ‘Aepsuny | Joneog e120 lap 8 3 zg such as simple possession for calling 911 in an emer- gency. iS, AS xe LETS WORK TOGETHER TO SAVE LIVES CertaPro Painters® has partnered with Breast Cancer Society of Canada (BCSC). Our goal is to raise $120K towards cancer research this fall. CertaPro Painters® of Oakville/Burlington, will donate $10 from every painting project we complete between now and November 30th. 10% OFF YOUR NEXT PAINTING PROJECT" Nt valid BREAST CANCER SOCIETY ‘of Canada™ i/ LA SOCIETE DU CANCER DU SEIN (du Canada 905-481-4021 | certapro.com/oakville-burlington Painters° CertaPro kk ke ke | 20 20% of off In Store Sales - ors if paid >. [oon purplehaven.ca 6834 HWY 3 CANFIELD Pl; im ONTARIO 905-701-1156 ‘Scan to shop woo"uoy|EYyapIsUt