Groups hold OD prevention training as province bans supervised drug consumption sites [Video]

Overdose prevention training sessions are being held across Ontario as the province moves to ban supervised drug consumption services and limit other harm reduction measures.

On Wednesday, volunteers in Toronto, Ottawa, Sudbury, Timmins, Hamilton, and Kitchener-Waterloo taught members of the public how to recognize the signs of a drug overdose, give CPR, and administer naloxone, the opioid overdose-reversing drug. People could also ask questions about the drug poisoning crisis and learn more about SCSs.

The Toronto Overdose Prevention Society (TOPS) and allies organized the emergency outreach effort as they “brace for the worst outcome: the closing of lifesaving services that intervene in overdoses every day.” The group plans to hold training sessions across the province in the coming months.

“So essentially, with the Ford government’s decisions to close supervised consumption sites, we’re recognizing and naming that there’s going to be a lot more people who are using substances publicly, which …