More than 600 individuals, organizations send letter calling on Ontario to reverse needle distribution ban

Julia Alevato · CBC News

· Posted: Jul 10, 2025 4:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: July 10

More than 600 individuals and organizations from crossed Ontario person signed a missive calling connected the state to let the organisation of syringes astatine Homelessness and Addiction Recovery Treatment (HART) Hubs, saying prohibiting them will enactment much radical astatine hazard of HIV and hepatitis C transmission.

The missive was sent Wednesday to Ontario Health Minister Sylvia Jones and Ontario's Chief Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Kieran Moore, and included signatures from wellness centres, advocacy groups and probe organizations. 

Sandra Ka Hon Chu, co-executive manager of the HIV Legal Network, said the missive was enactment together because the determination to prohibit sterile needle organisation is simply a "huge detriment" to radical who usage drugs crossed Ontario.

"The depletion attraction services that person transitioned into HART Hubs were antecedently 1 of the biggest distributors of needle and syringe programs successful the province, truthful prohibiting them from distributing the supplies would person immense implications for radical who usage drugs," she told CBC Toronto connected Wednesday.

The HART Hubs, which prioritize treatment, recovery, and getting radical into housing, were announced aft the state passed authorities past twelvemonth banning supervised depletion sites wrong 200 metres of schools and daycares.

The legislation, which is being challenged successful court, besides introduced restrictions connected needle and syringe organisation astatine HART Hubs. Nine hubs were opened in Ontario successful April.

The missive sent to the authorities pointed retired needle and syringe programs person been recommended by planetary wellness organizations, including the World Health Organization, arsenic indispensable elements of effectual HIV and hepatitis C prevention strategies for decades.

"We person truthful overmuch grounds astir the impacts of these services. We person the Ontario government's ain guidance that says we should administer these [needle and syringe kits] to forestall transmission of HIV and Hepatitis C, truthful the Ontario government, connected 1 hand, is saying this, but connected the different manus is saying we can't bash it astatine these HART Hubs, truthful I deliberation there's a spot of confusion," said Chu.

Ontario's Substance Use Prevention and Harm Reduction Guideline, released by the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care successful 2018, says: "The organisation of needles/syringes and different cause usage supplies has proven to beryllium an effectual method successful reducing blood-borne infections associated with injection cause use, specified arsenic HIV and hepatitis C."

The usher also recommends reducing the sharing and re-use of needles, syringes, and different supplies.

Province says its absorption is to connection treatment

In a connection to CBC Toronto connected Wednesday, a spokesperson for the Minister of Health said the authorities is gathering a strategy of attraction focused connected connecting radical to treatment, support and recovery by investing $550 cardinal to physique 28 caller HART Hubs crossed the province.

"Our government's absorption is connected offering radical struggling with intelligence wellness and addiction challenges a pathway to treatment, not giving them tools to usage illicit drugs," spokesperson Ema Popovic said.

The Ontario authorities didn't reply erstwhile asked if it is considering reversing the argumentation determination aft receiving calls from the community. 

'This is supported by evidence'

Breakaway Community Services, a multi-functional substance usage enactment and attraction bureau that provides community-based and outreach programs successful Toronto, is 1 of the much than 600 organizations that person signed the letter. 

One registered caregiver astatine the bureau said the missive could show there are a batch of radical successful the assemblage who attraction astir cause safety.

"I deliberation 600 is lone a tiny driblet of rainfall successful an water of radical who cognize that this is bully medicine, that this is supported by evidence, by science, by radical who usage drugs, by radical who enactment radical who usage drugs,"  Melody Alderton-Ballik said Wednesday.

"This missive is lone 1 shadiness of what could perchance forestall the undoing of decades of work, decades of advocacy."

WATCH | Critics pass supervised depletion tract closures volition outgo lives: 

The enforcement manager astatine Breakaway Community Services said connected Wednesday that the depletion attraction services request to proceed due to the fact that it's a harmless mode for radical to usage drugs. 

"There's truthful overmuch probe that shows that not providing supplies is not going to halt radical from utilizing substances. They'll conscionable usage needles that person been utilized before," said Nicola Bangham. "And that volition origin acold much harm."

More than 21,000 overdoses person been reversed astatine supervised depletion sites crossed the state betwixt March 2020 and January 2024, based connected information from Health Canada.