KAWARTHA LAKES-According to a report going to Committee of the Whole next week there were 220 suspected overdose related hospital visits and 20 overdose deaths in the first 9 months of 2018 in the Haliburton Kawartha Pine Ridge District Health Unit catchment area.
The Haliburton, Kawartha Lakes, Northumberland Drug Strategy will be making the presentation to council along with Kawartha Lakes Police Chief Mark Mitchell. The Drug Strategy was given a three year grant from the Trillium Foundation in 2016.
The purpose of the presentation is to bring attention to the need for a local, coordinated drug strategy and to update Council on the outcomes of the grant according to officials.
Over the course of the three year grant the initiative has developed a Naloxone enhancement distribution program, van mobile outreach services and an Opioid Response Task Force and Early Warning Surveillance System. Naloxone is a drug that reverses an opioid overdose.
Officials say they conducted 548 surveys and  79 interviews with service providers to developed a list of community priorities.
The top four concerns identified were:
- Â Crime and Community Safety
- Â Impaired Driving
- Â Children and Youth
- Â Lack of Resources and Access to Services
According to the report the Kawartha Lakes Police Service has investigated 75 suspected overdose incidents in 2019 with a significant spike in the number of overdose incidents between February – May. Â There has been 7 Death Investigations where an opioid overdose was suspected and 68% of charges laid by Drug Investigators were opioid related.
