The director of a Montreal safe-injection site says the city saw a record number of drug-related deaths in the last year. Injection booths are seen at the Cactus safe-injection site in Montreal, Monday, June 26, 2017. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson
MONTREAL – The director of a Montreal supervised drug-consumption site says the city saw a record number of drug-related deaths in the last year.
CACTUS Montréal executive director Jean-François Mary made the comments in reaction to new data released today by the city’s public health authority.
The authority says there were 175 suspected overdose deaths in Montreal, including the city’s on-island suburbs, between August 2022 and July 2023.
Mary says antiquated policies, such as drug prohibitions, are contributing to what he labelled a crisis.
Montreal public health is advocating for more supervised drug-use sites like CACTUS as a way to address the growing number of overdoses.
But Mary says that while such centres can save lives, they aren’t a solution to the overdose crisis.
The Montreal public health data shows that the vast majority of overdoses in the last year, 77 per cent, occurred in private residences.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 31, 2023.
