The National Post has received data from two more Ontario police departments confirming that seizures of hydromorphone, an opioid as potent as heroin, have skyrocketed by 1,000 per cent or more since “safer supply” programs became widely available in 2020.

These programs, which are sanctioned by the federal government, distribute free addictive drugs — predominantly eight-mg tablets of hydromorphone — to mitigate the use of riskier street substances. While advocates claim that this “saves lives,” a series of stories in the National Post has shown that safer supply clients often divert (sell or trade) their hydromorphone to acquire stronger illicit substances, which floods communities with the drug and fuels new addictions.