TORONTO — An increasing number of overdose deaths in Ontario involves the use of more than one drug, with the combination of opioids and stimulants proving to be especially dangerous, a new report says.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic, attributing deaths to two or more substances rather than just one drug has become more common, new research from the Ontario Drug Policy Research Network and Public Health Ontario shows.
"But we've also seen this increase in deaths where there are three or more substances involved – an opioid, a stimulant and a benzodiazepine or alcohol – and that has really complicated a number of things, including the fact that when people are overdosing from multiple substances it can be very hard to know how best to support them."
"We found that in the week before death, about a third of the people had some kind of health-care encounter in that week," Gomes said. "And, unfortunately, the concern we have in the findings in this report is that that's not always the case." Illicit opioids, largely fentanyl, swept into the province around 2015 and overdose deaths rose soon after. Deaths jumped significantly during the pandemic, which Gomes and other researchers pointed to lockdowns and social measures that often left people using drugs alone. Health-care supports were also shuttered for stretches at a time or access was limited, she said.
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