On Wednesday, April 5th, in collaboration with experienced consultants, local organizations and community members, The Municipality of Chatham-Kent launched the Chatham-Kent Municipal Drug Strategy.
The need for this strategy was identified back in 2019, Municipal officials say.
“A local situational assessment of opioid use and related harms was completed in 2019,” stated Maggie Clendenning, CK Public Health’s Harm Reduction Coordinator, in a press release.
“The findings suggested a coordinated approach to substance use, with a focus on prevention, building community capacity and supporting people who use opioids.”
Together with Collective Results (an external consulting firm based out of Guelph, Ontario with experience developing local drug strategies), the CK Drug Strategy Steering Committee, CK Public Health, community partners, people with lived/living expertise with substance use, and community support, The Municipality of Chatham-Kent is set to bring forward recommendations for implementation and action to Council in Fall 2023, Municipal officials say.
“We want to be able to present something that is genuinely reflective of Chatham-Kent and the people who live, work and learn here,” Clendenning added.
“A real strength in this strategy will be the insight, views and opinions we receive from our community partners, and our community members, respectively.”
There are currently two separate surveys open to hear feedback from Community Partners, as well as Community Members.
The surveys will be open until Tuesday, April 18.
Both surveys, as well as additional information about the strategy can be found at www.LetsTalkChatham-Kent.ca/CKMunicipalDrugStrategy.
