With one year in the books, Peterborough’s Consumption and Treatment Services (CTS) site has seen more than 10,000 visits made and prevented more than 70 opioid-related deaths.
Those numbers are included in a report heralding the first-year uptake of the site’s services and the impact that is having on the continued effort to reduce the number of substance users falling prey to a poisoned drug supply.
While encouraged by the overall numbers, Fourcast executive director Donna Rogers cautions there’s a double-edged sword at play.
Rogers says while many partner agencies have come together to make the CTS a reality and anchored its success, work remains to be done in terms of broader community acceptance of the site’s work and its lifesaving importance.
Looking ahead, Rogers says there are some new initiatives on the horizon, including a drug checking service anticipated to start by the end of this summer
Also on the horizon is advocacy for safe inhalation services.
(Written by: Paul Rellinger)
