Saskatoon addictions expert says more treatment options needed to combat overdoses

A family doctor and addictions consultant in Saskatoon says he's saddened by reports of a spike in overdoses in the city.

Medavie Health Services said this week that ambulance crews responded to 94 overdose calls from July 6 to 13, setting a new one-week record. Paramedics administered 49 doses of Narcan, a drug that stabilizes people who have overdosed, during that week.

Medavie said it has been responding to a growing number of overdose calls since March.

Dr. Peter Butt said a host of drugs could be involved in these cases, but that the number of overdoses linked to opioids continues to grow.

"This is a slow moving trainwreck that's been gaining momentum for some time now," he told CBC's Saskatoon Morning Wednesday.

Butt said there are many reasons why overdoses are on the increase. He said COVID-19 restrictions meant that many treatment and detox options were limited.

"A lot of visits now are done virtually over the phone, if individuals have a telephone," he said. 

"So it is a shift away from what might normally keep them going."

He said a safe consumption site, like the one proposed by AIDS Saskatoon, would go a long way toward reducing the number of overdoses in the city.

"I think that supervised consumption would be one way of helping people if they are going to use and they're not sure of the drug that they're using," he said.

"It might be sold as methamphetamine but it could be laced with fentanyl. Supervised consumption would certainly be helpful as part of those harm reduction strategies."

Butt said a various other measures, from more take-home naloxone kits to more supportive housing and long-term treatment, are also needed.

"There are still gaps in terms of the continuity of care that we provide people, from harm reduction interventions all the way through to recovery."