At least 3 suspected drug overdose deaths in Cambridge in January

‘There’s no end in sight’

Michael Parkinson with the Waterloo Region Crime Prevention Council said COVID-19 has made things worse.

He said the calls to stay home and stay apart have led people to overdose alone and support organizations have had a harder time providing services.

“We’re seeing direct service agencies just get crushed by overwhelming demand,” he said. “In the meantime, people are very much losing their lives, sometimes in shelters, sometimes in private residences.”

Parkinson said the pandemic has proven governments can act quickly. He wants to see an “urgent and proportional response to the scale of the crisis,” mentioning safe supply programs in particular, which provide non-contaminated drugs for people who use them.

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