London needs to 'think way outside of the box' about drugs: Mackie

London health officials will likely know by the end of the week how much provincial cash will be available to help with the opioid crisis.

But even if London got the maximum, about $500,000,it wouldn'teven put a dent in the city's drug problem, said Chris Mackie, the Middlesex London Health Unit medical officer of health.

"London and Middlesex[county] havea drug problem that rivals that of any major city in Canada. We'd be pretty naive if we thought that this would solve a drug crisis that's been in the making for decades," Mackie said.

London has between 3,000 and 10,000 injection drug users, and gives out 2.5 million needles a year -- second only to Vancouver.

"We have to be really creative in how we use those resources," Mackiesaid.

More funding for front line workers, overdose kits

The province announced Tuesday it would fund more front-line health workers and distribute more kits to help first responders deal with overdoses.

Municipalities can get funding for up to four front-line workers to help deal with addiction and treatment of drugs such as Oxycontin and fentanyl.

London has been "aggressively" handing outNaloxone, a drug that can temporarily reverse the effects of anopioidoverdose if administered in time, for several years,Mackiesaid.

"We were fairly early in the [opioid]crisis. We saw a spike in deaths in 2012 and we have been distributingNaloxonekits since then."

About 70 pharmacies in London andMiddlesexdistribute freeNaloxonekits to anyone who asks.

"Measuring illegal drug use is difficult because it's the black market (but) if you look at needle distribution and overdose deaths, we're above the provincial average, for sure," saidMackie.

Drug strategy must include investment in kids

The city has to look at how other communities have dealt with drug problems.

Portugal decriminalized drug use, he said, and Iceland invested in programs for young people to give them alternatives to using drugs,Mackiesaid.

"We need to think way outside of the box, way upstream, about raising healthy children and creating healthy communities."

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In the meantime, Naloxone kits save lives and should be available as much as possible, said Scott Courtice, executive director of the London Intercommunity Health Centre

"I think we need to set a goal of getting Naloxone into the hands of everyone at risk of overdose, and funding health units to put more resources on the street and get more Naloxone into people's hands is a great thing."

Naloxone has been available onboard Middlesex-London EMS ambulances for the last 15 years, said Jay Loosley, the superintendent of education for the paramedic service.

New drugs circulating

He said paramedics in London have been warned about a powerful new drug that's made an appearance in Western Canada, one that'sup to 100 times stronger than fentanyl.

"We've been dealing with opioid overdoses for a long time," Loosley said. "These new drugs are scary because they have fentanyl-like properties but they're not a narcotic, so Naloxone won't work as we think it should when administered."