A Regina father who lost two adult children to fentanyl overdoses within days of each other says addicts needs better access to drug treatment centres.
Alex Hamilton鈥檚 daughter Niki and son Josh both died in separate incidents in November from the opioid drug. They left behind three children each.
Hamilton says that he had heard about 鈥渨hat they were doing鈥� but never expected such a terrible outcome.
Fentanyl is an opioid drug that often comes shipped to Canada from China in powder form and is then pressed into pills. It has become more popular in recent years as the addictive prescription drug oxycodone, which offers a similar euphoric effect, has become harder for drug users to find.
It takes only a tiny amount of fentanyl for users to accidentally overdose. As a result, officials estimate a record 3,000 Canadians will die from opioid overdoses this year -- far exceeding the number who 2,100 to 2,200 who will die in motor vehicle collisions.
Federal Minister of Health Jane Philpott that the Liberal governments鈥� new drug strategy will address the crisis by cracking down on border shipments and by making it easier for cities to open safe-consumption sites, where nurses watch over drug users and administer overdose reversing drugs if needed.
Philpott said Monday that the government is also committed to 鈥渋ncreasing access to mental health supports and recognizing that people find their way to addiction often through trauma that has taken place in their lives.鈥�
Hamilton believes part of the solution is to give addicts immediate access to drug counselling. As is the case with many aspects of the Canada鈥檚 public health care system, people with addictions often wait months to even begin treatment.
鈥淲hen they want to get clean, that is when we should be there,鈥� Hamilton said. 鈥淲e should have facilities and we do not."
With a report from CTV Regina
