Police in London, Ont., say roughly half of the drugs they seized last year were prescribed opioids, indicating they're being diverted onto city streets. But Deputy Chief Paul Bastien said safer opioid supply (SOS) programs aren't the only source of drugs being diverted for other uses.
He also said it's hard to quantify how much they contribute to the redistribution of prescribed drugs because of how police find them in. "Sometimes a drug is seized in bulk packages," he told CBC's London Morning on Friday. "If it's seized in a bottle by a physician who is prescribing safe supply, that's clearly an indication [of diversion to street use].
The bulk of what we have seized over the past several years is not found in that form." Police drug unit officers are finding eight-milligram tablets of Dilaudids that are prescribed as part of safer supply —tested and controlled opioids prescribed to people with narcotic addictions. Dilaudids are a brand of hydromorphone, an opioid to treat severe chronic pain and help with management of physical and psychological withdrawal symptoms.
Look to safe supply research, not disinformation campaigns, London doctor pleads with Ottawa A bitter pill: Safer supply program flawed but vital, patient says In the last five years, there has been a 3,000 per cent increase in all forms of hydromorphone tablets seized in London. They include but aren't limited to Dilaudid, said Bastien. In 2019, police seized just under 1,000 tablets, with triple that number.
