Addiction, mental health problems pandemic's 'third wave'?

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Toronto continues to deal with record-breaking overdose deaths.

Overnight Friday into Saturday, paramedics were dispatched to 40 overdose calls, resulting in three deaths — the highest recorded in Toronto during a 24-hour period.

And December was the city’s deadliest month for overdose deaths, said Toronto Board of Health Chair Joe Cressy, with 17,000 lives lost in Canada over the past four years.

University of Toronto researcher Taryn Grieder said addiction and mental health problems are gearing up to be the pandemic’s next “wave,” a conclusion echoed by many psychologists.

“It’s the link between stress and withdrawal,” she said. “People who may have just used recreationally are facing so much stress because of social isolation, worries of financial issues and housing issues.”

Another factor, she said, is dwindling supply due to border closures — prompting dealers to cut the drugs they sell even further with dangerous additives.

A major cause of opioid deaths is street drugs cut with potentially lethal and inexpensive additives like fentanyl and carfentanil, powerful synthetic opioids that can kill a user within minutes.

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Calling the deaths “entirely preventable,” Dr. Eileen de Villa, the city’s medical officer of health, described the city’s Overdose Action Plan as a science-based approach to reduce overdoses and attack the core issues behind addiction.

“As a society, what we need to do is consider this the health problem it is, rather than solely looking at it as a justice or law enforcement perspective,” she said.

Toronto’s plan includes prevention, harm reduction, safe supply and treatment — the kind of wide-ranging strategy Grieder says is important.

Mayor John Tory pointed fingers at the province’s lack of movement on what he called an “urgent heath crisis.”

“This is not a question of morals. This is not a question of compliance with the law — this is a question of health,” he said.

“It’s time to really step up the pressure here because we really need to have some action on this.”

bpassifiume@postmedia.com
On Twitter: @bryanpassifiume