Ontario health officials weigh in on how opioid alerts work and if they're making a difference

Lambton Public Health is among the latest agencies to issue a public health alert warning people who use drugs about unusual activity in the region's drug supply.

While the alerts are meant to help people stay safe, and do work, one expert says more proactive solutions are still needed.

"We are really looking to communicate with the community and alert the community to actions that they can take to prevent harm, said Shaun Bisson, a spokesperson with the southwestern Ontario health agency.

"We understand that people are going to use opioids or drugs that are not prescribed to them, but what they can do is take steps to prevent any harm. That includes not mixing with alcohol or other drugs, don't use alone, know the signs of an opioid overdose and most importantly, carrying a naloxone kit.

LISTEN |Lambton County opioid-relate overdose increase:

Windsor Morning6:06Lambton County opioid-relate overdose increase

Public health officials in Lambton County have issued an advisory after a suspected increase in opioid-related overdoses and deaths. Windsor Morning Host Amy Dodge spoke to is Lambton Public Health spokesperson Shaun Bisson about the issue.

Lambton Public Health issued the alert on Friday, warning of an increase in suspected opioid overdoses and deaths.

While other, larger public health units can use opioid alerts to warn people of changes, like new substancesin the region's drug supply, that's not the case in Lambton.

Instead, it comes down to indicators public health monitors that rise above rolling averages, he said.

"Certainly the biggest thing that we want to talk to people about is the fact that there are actions that you can take to prevent opioid related poisonings," he said.

"Knowing what the signs of an opioid overdose include and then how to respond in the event that somebody near you is experiencing an opioid overdose."

One expert says the alerts are a way to get closer to real-time monitoring of what is happening in Canada's drug supply.

"Because toxicology from the coroner's office or from Health Canada takes weeks, if not months to materialize," said Michael Parkinson, a drug strategy specialist with the Drug Strategy Network of Ontario.

"By then it's it's just too late."

LISTEN |Opioid alerts in Ontario:

Afternoon Drive7:40Opioid alerts in Ontario

Opioid alerts happen across the province. They're meant to identify when there's a 'bad batch' of drugs in circulation on the streets. But do they actually change the safety of illegal drug consumption? Host Colin Butler is joined by Michael Parkinson, a drug strategy specialist with the Drug Strategy Network of Ontario, to discuss.

Parkinson said opioid alerts have become increasingly widespread in the time he's been involved in drug monitoring, with most urban centres, and increasingly rural centres, able to issue them.

And, he said, there is evidence that suggestssomeusers who are seeing the advisories do adjusting their behaviour when an alert is sent out.

"Importantly what they do is they they tell their peer networks and that's how a lot of people really find out. It's it's word of mouth."

But while he acknowledges they work, it is a "downstream" initiative, according to Parkinson.

"The harm isimminent. It's a bit of a Band-Aid solution in the same way thatwe rely so much on emergency departments, on the criminal justice system," he said.

"I think my colleagues right across Canada would like to see more upstream solutions ... [including]an expansion of those safer supply programs. Those are proven to work. People don't overdose. They don't end up in the emerged rooms and and they tend to get their their affairs in order."