Mr. Kellen Russoniello:

At the end of the day, the biggest prevention effort we can make in the province with respect to fentanyl use, in particular, is preventing kids from ever trying it in the first place. It is not just hardcore users who are dying. Our illicit drug supply in this province is toxic. People are dying not because they are using too much of a drug or anything like that, as used to be the case. Rather, the drug supply is poisonous. Any amount of illicit drugs can lead to an overdose death. We have seen that in representation from across all types of populations in the province which have been impacted by the illicit drug toxicity crisis.

Prevention and education are the biggest tools to try to get ahead of this crisis. As I said, it is not just entrenched users who are dying; it is kids who are trying drugs for the first time as well. That is why education and prevention resources are critical, whether that is getting into schools, programmes in community centres, police information, health programmes or whatever else the case may be.