Hon. Vernon White: Honourable senators, I, as well as others, have spoken on the problem of addictions and, in particular, the impact accidental overdoses were and are having on that vulnerable sector. With the ever-increasing distribution of fentanyl and carfentanyl by criminal organizations that manufacture counterfeit drugs, the death rate has exploded. Understanding that fentanyl is 100 times stronger than morphine, and carfentanyl up to 10,000 times stronger, illegal drug manufacturers using things like cement mixers to make their illicit product care little, if at all, about quality control.

As I have said here previously, the result is 17 to 20 deaths daily in Canada by overdose. There has been a success story to which we and the government should pay attention. With deaths growing exponentially beginning around 2017, Ottawa Inner City Health decided that drastic measures needed to be taken. They started a managed opiate program, based on European research, requiring a major shift in their programming.

They introduced a program with the option of opiate substitution being offered, including methadone, Suboxone or, in conditions where the addict is unable to or incapable of managing either of these, opiate management was introduced.

Opiate management means this option is used to: keep an opiate user safe during their removal from street drug use; stabilize them while bringing them into an opiate replacement therapy program; and, oversee their use of pharmaceutical opiate replacements under direct medical supervision instead of continuing their use of toxic street drugs. Working directly with medical staff, the drug-using client is provided the correct dose of a combination of Dilaudid and HYDROmorph Contin. Clients work closely with nurses and doctors to arrive at a correct dose.

The results have been impressive. Clients are able to remove themselves from street drug use and a highly dangerous lifestyle. Many of the participants have since been housed successfully, moved on to school or even employment. The program is a highly structured treatment regime and many find themselves shifting to other programs, such as methadone, as they recover. Importantly, we hope that programs such as this alternative therapy is one that the federal government will adopt as a best practice and expand across the country. I want to speak today about their success and bring some light to the great work they do. I congratulate and thank Wendy Muckle, Dr. Jeff Turnbull and their team for their work.

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