Hamilton saw its worst month ever for suspected opioid overdose calls in July.

The city recorded a record-high 134 calls last month — the highest since 109 in August 2021, according to its online opioid information system that has statistics dating back to 2017.

The spike comes just months after Hamilton’s supervised drug-consumption site closed — along with eight others in Ontario — under new provincial rules, leading to renewed questions about the province’s opioid strategy.

“Notably, several weeks have recorded some of the highest weekly paramedic response counts since reporting began in 2017,” Dr. Bart Harvey, Hamilton’s associate medical officer of health, said in a statement.

Those include 39 suspected drug poisoning calls between May 26 and June 2, as well as 43 from June

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