Alex Nutall has been very public about his opposition to what he refers to as an “illegal-drug injection site' in downtown Barrie.
The Barrie-Springwater-Oro-Medonte Conservative MP released a report today called 'Compassion and Care: Fighting the Opioid Crisis.'
Nuttall spent time in Toronto and Vancouver, exploring overdose prevention and safe injection sites and he has concluded there needs to be more emphasis on treatment and rehabilitation.
He says recommending local committee's be established from a social services and justice perspective.
Nuttall likes what Portugal is doing, where the country launched it's first safe injection site this summer, and individuals who were found with small amounts of substance didn't go to jail but they weren't left alone on the streets either.
He says these people were taken into mandatory counselling where they could end up in rehab and treatment right away.
After what he has seen, Nuttall rejects the argument that injection sites will solve the opioid problem.
The MP has talked to professionals who have told him there is not enough treatment and rehab services for the amount of people being affected by the crisis.
Nuttall says injections only safe lives until the next use, he doesn't believe they necessarily save lives.
The Barrie application for an overdose prevention site has been spearheaded by the Gilbert Centre.
Nuttall says there are a cocktail of problems contributing to the opioid problem in Barrie, including the existing homeless issue, skyrocketing rents and the number of prisoners who are dropped off in the city by the correctional facility in Penetanguishene.
He says at the Toronto safe injection site he visited, they have as many as 20 cleanings a day, removing discarded needles.
The issue of drug overdose has hit close to home for Nuttall.
He lost a high school friend and a former campaign manager to overdose.
