{"id":91029,"date":"2025-04-03T09:38:55","date_gmt":"2025-04-03T13:38:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/?p=91029"},"modified":"2025-04-03T09:38:55","modified_gmt":"2025-04-03T13:38:55","slug":"its-classist-its-racist-ontarios-overdose-death-capital-braces-for-more-loss","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/03\/its-classist-its-racist-ontarios-overdose-death-capital-braces-for-more-loss\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018It\u2019s classist. It\u2019s racist\u2019: Ontario\u2019s overdose death capital braces for more loss"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Jon Thompson, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Ricochet Juanita Lawson fidgeted with two scraps of paper as she wound down a meeting with Thunder Bay media on Monday. The interviews marked the official end of her consumption and treatment program, as well as the closure of the only safe supply site in northern Ontario. The NorWest Community Health Centres CEO didn\u2019t refer to her notes, which consisted only of two anonymous client testimonies. One read, \u201cSafe supply + Path 525 have harmoniously saved my life in so many ways. When they inevitably will no longer be available to us, it\u2019s going to be a very short matter of time until the clients (past clients at that point) will start dying. I will quite likely be one of them.\u201d Thunder Bay… <\/p>\n

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By Jon Thompson, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Ricochet Juanita Lawson fidgeted with two scraps of paper as she wound down a meeting with Thunder Bay media on Monday. The interviews marked the official end of her consumption and treatment program, as well as the closure of the only safe supply site in northern Ontario. The NorWest Community Health Centres CEO didn\u2019t refer to her notes, which consisted only of two anonymous client testimonies. One read, \u201cSafe supply + Path 525 have harmoniously saved my life in so many ways. When they inevitably will no longer be available to us, it\u2019s going to be a very short matter of time until the clients (past clients at that point) will start dying. I will quite likely be one of them.\u201d Thunder Bay... <\/p>\n

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The interviews marked the official end of her consumption and treatment program, as well as the closure of the only safe supply site in northern Ontario. The NorWest Community Health Centres CEO didn\u2019t refer to her notes, which consisted only of two anonymous client testimonies. One read, \u201cSafe supply + Path 525 have harmoniously saved my life in so many ways. When they inevitably will no longer be available to us, it\u2019s going to be a very short matter of time until the clients (past clients at that point) will start dying. I will quite likely be one of them.\u201d Thunder Bay\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/03\/its-classist-its-racist-ontarios-overdose-death-capital-braces-for-more-loss\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Turtle Island News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TurtleIslandNews\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-04-03T13:38:55+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/facebooklogo.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"725\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"483\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Lynda Powless\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@newsattheturtle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@newsattheturtle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Lynda Powless\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"8 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/04\\\/03\\\/its-classist-its-racist-ontarios-overdose-death-capital-braces-for-more-loss\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/04\\\/03\\\/its-classist-its-racist-ontarios-overdose-death-capital-braces-for-more-loss\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Lynda Powless\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7b188fd7503577895ef8b306988cd458\"},\"headline\":\"\u2018It\u2019s classist. 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