In The News

Click on the links below to view the latest news stories from leading media outlets highlighting ODPRN research and scientists.


‘There already aren’t enough’: A doctor on the impact of closing Toronto’s safe-consumption sites

A new study by researchers at Ontario Drug Policy Research Network and the MAP Centre for Urban Health Solutions attempts to estimate the potential impact of the closure of these six safe-consumption sites on the people who have come to rely on them.

November 7, 2024 | TVO Today | News Article | Associated Research


Hundreds will lose access to safe consumption when some Toronto sites close: study

Hundreds of people will lose access to supervised consumption sites in Toronto when the province closes five of them next year, which will likely mean more public drug use and more overdoses, a new study suggests.

November 7, 2024 | The Canadian Press | News Article | Associated Research


Canadian provinces scaling back harm-reduction services

A November, 2023 review of opioid use amongst Ontario Indigenous people found significantly higher rates of medically prescribed opioid use among Indigenous people than among non-Indigenous people, higher rates of opioid antagonist therapy, and far higher rates of hospitalization for opioid toxicity and overdose deaths.

October 19, 2024 | The Lancet | News Article | Associated Research


Meet Canada’s Outstanding Leaders in Health Technology Assessment

ODPRN founder Muhammad Mamdani and Mina Tadrous, Director of Pharmacy Practice and Pharmaceutical Policy, have been recognized with the CDA’s 2024 Recognition Awards. These awards celebrate individuals advancing the science of health technology assessment (HTA), nurturing future leaders, and enhancing Canada’s reputation for excellence in the field.

September 4, 2024 | Canada Newswire | News Article


As Canadian drug deaths rise, programs to keep users safe face backlash

Tara Gomes, principal investigator at the Ontario Drug Policy Research Network, says these initiatives save lives. “If we take away harm reduction as one of the options available to people, ultimately all I can see happen is we’re going to see more people losing their lives. And that terrifies me.”

July 24, 2024 | Reuters | News Article


Opioid overdoses are surging in Windsor-Essex. Public health is asking the community for help

According to coroner’s data posted on The Ontario Drug Policy Research Network website, in the first three months of this year, there were 25 confirmed and probable drug-related deaths in Windsor-Essex

July 12, 2024 | CBC News | News Article | Associated Research


Opioid deaths in Ontario shelters more than tripled during pandemic, study finds

A new study examining data from the Ontario coroner’s office and other sources indicates opioid-related deaths in the province’s shelters more than tripled during the COVID-19 pandemic, when compared with a few years prior.

June 18, 2024 | The Canadian Press | News Article | Associated Research


Advocates urge Ontario to boost support for supervised drug sites

A joint report released in March, led by the Ontario Drug Policy Research Network and Public Health Ontario, shows most people who died from toxic drugs had low engagement with treatment services.

June 1, 2024 | CBC News | News Article | Associated Research


Virtual clinics now prescribe safer-supply drugs as opioid crisis escalates

According to data released by the Ontario Drug Policy Research Network and Public Health Ontario (ODPRN), there’s been a 31% increase in opioid-related deaths in Ontario from January 2020 to September 2022.

May 14, 2024 | DATAC | News Article | Associated Research


Opioids responsible for one in every four deaths among young adults: study

The staggering cost of illicit drug toxicity in Canada, especially among young people, is laid bare in new research published Monday that highlights rapid increases in opioid-related deaths with the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic.

April 15, 2024 | The Toronto Star | News Article | Associated Research


Ontario is in the midst of a drug crisis. These seven charts tell us who’s being hit hardest

The research highlights, among other things, the disproportionate impact that opioid overdoses are having on Black, Asian and Latin American drug users and raises questions about whether the province’s racialized communities are getting the help they need.

April 1, 2024 | The Toronto Star | News Article | Associated Research


Ontario overdose deaths reveal gap between health care system and addiction treatment, report finds

The report, published by the Ontario Drug Policy Research Network and Public Health Ontario, highlights an urgent need to make treatment services more accessible, said Tara Gomes, one of the authors. 

March 5, 2024 | The Globe and Mail | News Article | Associated Research


Only 4 per cent of opioid overdose patients were prescribed drugs to manage addiction in week after hospital visit: Ontario study

A new study has found that only one in 18 people who ended up in hospital in Ontario after an opioid overdose were prescribed drugs known to help manage opioid use disorders in the following week —despite this mitigation strategy being recommended in Canada for years.

January 5, 2024 | CTV News | News Article | Associated Research


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