The Region of Waterloo could soon be adding its voice to a growing chorus of calls to change the way we think about and respond to the ongoing opioid crisis.
Regional council is set to vote Wednesday on a report from the Waterloo Region Integrated Drugs Strategy (WRIDS).
The report lays out four options, the recommended choice being the decriminalization of simple possession along with expanded access to health interventions. Those include things like safer supply programs and upping funding for prevention and treatment programs.
"We really do have to migrate toward a public health approach to drug addiction as opposed to a criminal justice approach, which is what we've been predominantly doing for years," said Tom Galloway, regional councillor, Kitchener.
"It's a public health problem and we need a public health solution," Galloway said. "We're not going to arrest our way or charge our way out of drug problems."
That's essentially the same opinion expressed nearly two years ago by the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police.
It's also a move other big Canadian cities like Vancouver have been advocating for years, and a direction the federal government has been pushed toward as recently as February by the New Democrats.
Galloway says it's time Waterloo Region to officially join those calls.
"I think there's no question at all: we're ready for it here," he said. "I think we've been fairly progressive in terms of the CTS (consumption and treatment services), in terms of safe supply, and I think we've got the various NGOs and non-profits that are willing to take this up very quickly."
