Overdose deaths in Toronto increase by 73 percent over the past decade

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Two of Toronto nightclubs were being scrutinized for the safety of the club goers after six suspected overdoses, including one death was reported, media reports said.

A public safety alert concerning the safety of nightclubs Rebel and Uniun had been issued by Toronto police (TP) after the incidents of death and overdosage there, CBCNews reports said.

A 24-year-old woman was rushed to hospital after collapsing at Uniun nightclub on Adelaide Street West, and later pronounced dead Saturday morning, according to Toronto police.

Police said another woman at the club also collapsed and was taken to hospital in serious condition.

In December 2016, said the police, a woman died of overdoses at an electronic dance music concert at the waterfront venue.

The owner of these two clubs, INK Entertainment had been fully cooperating with the police investigation. 

Overdose deaths In Toronto have increased by 73 percent over the past decade, said Toronto Public Health (TPH) and added it planned a wider distribution of life-saving naloxone kits in its new Overdose Action Plan.

Opioids like heroin and fentanyl, said TPH, are responsible to a large extent for the accidental deaths in Toronto as these can prove fatal even in small dosages.

The deadly opioid carfentanil was found in Richmond Hill earlier this year, said York Regional Police.

TP Const. David Hopkinson said toxicology reports would confirm what these overdose patients had actually taken on Friday night and added it was also unclear if all the cases were linked.

According to health officials recreational drug users were ignorant what they were taking as more and more opioids were being mixed with other drugs in Toronto.

"We are seeing almost at a daily basis now that, when we perform tests at our biological lab... individuals are getting exposed to drugs and they have no idea," said Dr. Bernard Le Foll, a clinician scientist at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto.

"A single pill can kill you," he said.
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(Reporting by Asha Bajaj)

Image: Wikimedia Commons

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