The City of Barrie has committed to taking extra steps to help combat the opioid crisis. On Monday night Barrie City Councillors voted to take action on a long list of recommendations, outlined by city staff in a lengthy report.
The recommendations are meant to help the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit and other advocacy groups who are leading the fight against the crisis through their Simcoe Muskoka Opioid Strategy (SMOS).
“I was very pleased with this report actually,” Mayor Jeff Lehman told CTV News on Monday night.
“I think there had been some concern… [about] what the City’s contribution could be to this, and what we received tonight was a staff report that had eighteen actions the City can take to do more to combat the opioid crisis.”
One recommendation is to put needle exchange bins in City parks or parking lots, on a pilot basis. Another is to install nasal spray kits for Naloxone, a medication used to prevent opioid overdoses, inside City facilities, also on a pilot basis.
"Notwithstanding we have a crisis to deal with today, of high mortality due to poisoning of the drug supply, we have a much larger societal issue around addictions," said Lehman.
The report also recommends the City use its communications tools to promote the Simcoe Muskoka Opioid Strategy, and that the City team up with the Health Unit to host a career fair for the field of mental health and addictions. It also recommends the City ask the Province of Ontario for extra resources for treatment and rehab in Barrie.
Councillor Natalie Harris voted in favour of the recommendations but also says more should be done. The retired paramedic spoke at length about issues related to the opioid crisis, which are not being addressed by the Simcoe-Muskoka Opioid Strategy, such as people recovering from overdoses leaving emergency departments without Naloxone.
“The missing components that should have been addressed by SMOS need to be noted by city staff because we can fill in those gaps,” she said during deliberations. "I'm a recovered addict, myself, and I'm in the room of 12-step rooms and I see a lot of people who are still suffering," said Harris to CTV News. "I can't count the number of people I've lost because of accidental overdoses."
Back in the spring, Harris asked City Council to declare a public health emergency in Barrie because of the opioid crisis. Councillors did not vote in favour of the declaration but instead requested city staff find the most effective way to use city resources to support the Simcoe Muskoka Opioid Strategy.
Monday night’s vote will have to pass through a second vote of approval at City Council next week.
