Toronto councillor compares Board of Health to drug cartel over unauthorized safe injection site

City counc. Giorgio Mammoliti compared the Toronto Board of Health to a drug cartel and condemned the organization after the opening of an unauthorized safe injection site in the city’s Moss Park neighbourhood.

“Toronto Board of Health or drug cartel?” Mammoliti tweeted late Monday.

“The provincial and federal governments need to step up to the plate and offer real treatments for addicts – treatments that don’t put communities at risk.”

Shortly after the tweets, he issued a full statement that also took issue with plans to open three safe injection sites within the city.

“This will have a negative impact on the surrounding community’s residents,” Mammoliti said.

“There will be dangerous consequences in allowing and furthering drug use like thefts, assaults, break-ins, trafficking, money laundering, drug trafficking and prostitution.”

The city councillor went on to compare the actions of the clinics to aiding in criminal activity.

“We don’t provide free internet for those who want to hack secure servers,” he said. “We don’t offer masks to bank robbers or switch blades to violent offenders.”

READ MORE: Toronto trying to open supervised injection site ahead of schedule

Mammoliti’s statement comes as the city rushes to establish temporary safe injection sites ahead of three proposed permanent facilities.

The permanent sites were originally slated to open in the fall. Earlier this month, the city announced it would speed up the opening of all three sites, as well as widening the distribution of the opioid overdose medication naloxone to public health staff, community agencies and first responders.

READ MORE: Harm reduction workers post demands to combat opioid crisis

After voicing their concern, harm reduction workers set up an unsanctioned safe injection site in Moss Park Saturday and said the space is needed as the city grapples with a string of fatal and non-fatal overdoses, many believe to be connected to fentanyl.