Robin Lennox MPP, Hamilton Centre

To the Legislative Assembly of Ontario:

WHEREAS Ontario continues to bear the devastating burden of an escalating overdose crisis, with too many lives lost to a toxic drug supply

and ineffective drug policies;

WHEREAS the increasing potency of the illicit and toxic drug supply requires that we use every therapeutic treatment available to reduce the risk of overdose and death among people with severe opioid use disorder;

WHEREAS injectable opioid agonist treatment (iOAT), including diacetylmorphine and injectable hydromorphone, are Health Canada approved treatments for severe, treatment-refractory opioid use disorder

WHEREAS iOAT is administered under strictly-monitored, medically supervised conditions and has been found to be effective in reducing non-prescribed opioid use;

WHEREAS diacetylmorphine and high-concentration injectable hydromorphone are currently unavailable on the Ontario Drug formulary, rendering this therapeutic intervention inaccessible to people with opioid use disorder in Ontario;

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED THAT WE THE UNDERSIGNED, call upon the Ontario government to:

Include injectable diacetylmorphine and high-concentration injectable hydromorphone on the Ontario Drug formulary and immediately act to fund iOAT programs across Ontario so that people with severe opioid use disorder have access to evidence-based treatment.