It’s time for Torontonians to start talking about decriminalizing some illicit drugs.

That’s according to the city’s chief medical officer of health and the chairman of Toronto’s Board of Health. Both Dr. Eileen de Villa and Councillor Joe Mihevc said Friday that Canada’s current criminalization of drug use isn’t working. Governments should tackle the problem from a public health stand-point and that could mean decriminalizing some drugs, like heroin, Mihevc said.

“I would support a motion going to council asking that we consider (decriminalizing heroin) and begin the city dialogue to contribute to a national dialogue on the decriminalization of heroin and other drugs,” he said.

“After a generation of the War on Drugs...and their failure to promote good, healthy public policy, healthy communities, (it) has been an abject failure. It’s time to re-think that.”

The comments came during a technical briefing and press conference to address a spike in fatal drug overdoses in the city over the last week. According to public health statistics, drug overdoses led to 94 emergency room visits from July 27 to Aug. 2 in Toronto.

From 2004 to 2015, drug overdose deaths have increased 73%, according to the stats.

De Villa points to Portugal where drug use was decriminalized in 2001 and that has lead to a dramatic decrease in overdose deaths.

“It’s certainly something that should inform our discussions and our deliberations,” she said. “Not just here in Toronto, but I would argue throughout our country.”

De Villa said expedited construction work of one of the city’s three planned safe injection sites will begin next Tuesday. Mihevc said he personally intervened, asking city building officials to speed up permit approvals and cut red tape for the projects.

Last summer, council gave the OK to safe injection sites operating at The Works, located at Yonge and Dundas Sts., the Queen West-Central Toronto Community Health Centre in the Queen-Bathurst Sts. area, and South Riverdale Community Health Centre at Queen and Carlaw Sts.

In light of the surge of overdoses in the last week, the city will speed up work on the sites with the goal of opening them earlier than their mid-Fall target.

Councillor Giorgio Mammoliti, who has been critical of establishing the safe injection sites, said moving towards legalization of illicit drug use would be a mistake.

“I’ve always maintained that we do need to help people with substance abuse issues,” he said. “We need to be as sympathetic as we can. But I’ve also got to say that by legitimizing this – the way we’re doing it – not only are we jeopardizing communities around these facilities but we would be encouraging every addict in the province to come to the City of Toronto.”

sjeffords@postmedia.com