Four people lost to suspected opioid overdoses in January
More local people dying of opioid addiction than COVID-19, advocate says
At least four people in the Peterborough area are believed to have died from opioid overdoses since the start of the year and it’s feared the tally will continue to rise as the second COVID-19 lockdown continues.
In 2020, there were close to 40 suspected overdose deaths in the Peterborough area, with the deaths tied to a combination of a poisoned drug supply and physical isolation while using during the pandemic.
“I have lost friends, it’s people dealing with addictions,” said Dan Hennessey, an advocate for people experiencing homelessness.
“I know of at least four people that have died this year; it is going to be another record-setting year. This pandemic is not making it better.”
PARN is always reminding drug users of the importance of carrying naloxone and making sure people know they have it, said Dylan DeMarsh, communication resource co-ordinator at PARN, the Peterborough AIDS Resource Network.
“We want people to avoid mixing drugs at this time,” he said. “That can affect the impact of the naloxone and we also want people to test their drugs by using a small amount first (low and slow method).”
Using alone is not recommended, DeMarsh said. If it can’t be avoided, calling the National Overdose Response Service to monitor someone while they use is the next best thing, he said.
“What this does is if someone is using and they are alone, they call this number and someone will be on the phone while they use and if there are no responses, emergency services can be called,” DeMarsh said.
In small communities like Peterborough, people feel pushed to the fringes unlike in larger communities like Toronto, he said.
“If you are not made to feel you are part of this community, you get hidden further,” DeMarsh said. “That makes it harder for the big picture, like when you are ready to reach out for help around treatment.”
Users are worried and scared with what is going on with the drug poisonings.
“They are losing friends in a way that personally hits home for a lot of people,” he said. “It could have been them and they are also not getting a chance (to say goodbye).”
Restrictions on social gatherings during the pandemic makes it harder to say goodbye to friends.
“There is a ‘remembering our losses’ piece we like to do and that is not happening, so people are not getting a lot of the closure they need when their friends have passed away,” DeMarsh said.
A 24-7 drop-in centre would be a good start for people who need treatment and want to speak to someone who is not judging them, Hennessey said.
“I am not saying this is a cureall, but a safe place where somebody can come and talk, maybe that person wants help at 2 a.m.,” he said.
“With FourCAST and CMHA, they don’t operate at 2 a.m., they don’t operate after 5 p.m. These are people’s lives we are talking about.”
Many resources are needed to get people into treatment, said Donna Rogers, executive director of FourCAST.
“There is no one answer, there is no one solution,” Rogers said. “We need safe supply, methadone maintenance, harm reduction, a consumption and
treatment site, we need all of those things.”
Two examples of treatment are methadone maintenance and safe supply, she said.
“Methadone maintenance is often a long-term solution for people with very serious advanced opioid addiction,” Rogers said. “It is a way for them to stabilize their lives and make different choices.”
Safe supply is quite different in that it is administered to people using pharmaceuticalgrade drugs, she said.
“Safe supply is a little bit different,” Rogers said. “You are usually dosed all the time by the physician, that might be the biggest discrepancy.”
Multiple solutions are needed as one solution is not going to fit everyone the same, she said.
DeMarsh said PARN also offers outreach services to deliver naloxone to people who need it.
“We highly recommend people use that number, we will do whatever we can to get naloxone into people’s hands, right now.”
“People are dying more of opioid addiction than COVID,” Hennessey said. It feels like the health unit is more worried about COVID than they are about the suspected opioid overdose deaths, he said.
“They have their numbers skewed; their whole mandate is screwed up,” he said.
City police have not disclosed the number of suspected overdose deaths in the community this month as it is “low enough to be identifiable, which leads to privacy concerns given the size of our community.”
People who require naloxone can call PARN’s outreach at 705-559-0656. Supports are available through the National Overdose Response Service at 1-888-688-6677.