Surge of weekend drug overdoses in Ottawa part of ongoing national crisis

Ottawa police say nearly two dozen people suffered drug overdoses over the weekend in the country’s capital city.

The Ottawa Police Service says it responded to 19 drug-related overdoses on Saturday, and another three on Sunday morning.

Police say emergency responders and civilians administered naloxone, a drug that reverses opioid overdoses, in many of the cases.

The most recent data from Ottawa Public Health show there were 117 emergency hospital visits due to opioid overdoses in May, the highest number since July 2020.

Last July saw some of the worst outcomes in recent years, with five people dying from suspected opioid overdoses and 98 people hospitalized in just one week.

Neither police nor Ottawa Public Health would immediately say if there were any emergency hospital visits or deaths in connection with the weekend overdoses.