‘These are not just statistics or numbers. They are people’
Overdose awareness event in Cambridge aims to reduce the stigma about drug-related deaths
The first time Sean Delaney tried MDMA — or ecstasy — it killed the Kitchener teen.
He wasn’t an addict, his mother said, just a 19-year-old kid who made a choice that killed him in early 2017.
“He was having a party with his friends and they didn’t know what to do, and they ran away,” said his mother, Jessica Fraser, speaking to a crowd of about 100 people at International Overdose Awareness Day in Dickson Park in Cambridge Monday afternoon.
“If they had known they could call 911, my baby would probably still be here today.”
International Overdose Awareness Day, officially held Aug. 31, looks to educate people about how to deal with possible drug overdoses, and to reduce the stigma of a drug-related deaths. It also seeks to stimulate discussion about evidence-based overdose prevention strategies and drug policies.
Friends and family members of those who have died from a drug overdose gathered at the park to discuss that stigma, while several local organizations were on hand to provide drug support and
information, including how to administer Naloxone, a life-saving medication that can stop or reverse an opioid overdose.
As of the end of July, 26 people have died in Waterloo Region from a suspected drug overdose, the majority of them related to opioids such as fentanyl and carfentanil.
There’s been a dramatic spike in opioid-related deaths across the province in recent years. An estimated 85 people died of a suspected opioid-related drug overdose in Waterloo Region last year, up from 38 in 2016. There were also 1,261 opioid-related overdose deaths in Ontario in 2017, up from 867 in 2016, according to Public Health Ontario.
“These are not just statistics or numbers,” said Nick Fraser. “They are people with stories who mean something to someone.”
Lindsay Sprague of the Waterloo Region Integrated Drug Strategy said part of their goal Monday was to educate people about what to do if they suspect someone is overdosing, including their legal rights when seeking help.
“Stigma prevents people from being open and seeking help or support,” said Sprague.
Part of that education piece is the Good Samaritan Drug Overdose Act, which protects anyone seeking help for an overdose (and the person overdosing) from any minor drug possession charges.
It does not, however, protect against drug production or trafficking charges, outstanding warrants, or from any other crimes unrelated to drug use .
“Education is key,” said Kathy McKenna, a public health nurse and chair of the overdose prevention working group.
Monday’s event came less than a week after regional council voted to pause the process of finding possible supervised injection sites in Kitchener and Cambridge. That decision came following the new provincial government’s announcement earlier this month it was pausing the approval of any overdose prevention sites that had not yet opened so it could complete a review. A decision is expected in late September.
Overdose prevention sites are typically temporary locations to deal with immediate drug overdose concerns, while safe injection sites are more permanent.
Research has shown the sites not only prevent deaths, but reduce the spread of HIV and other infections and help people access long-term addiction treatment.
The region has identified four possible locations: 115 Water St. N. and 150 Duke St. W. in Kitchener, and 149 Ainslie St. N. and 150 Main St. in Cambridge.
Regional staff will continue developing a model for the potential site, including support services that could be offered, and they will continue to review any other locations.
Cambridge city council has already made it clear they don’t approve of the proposed sites, and adopted an interim city control bylaw in April banning safe injection sites in the city’s three cores. Both proposed sites are within the Galt core.
“There’s a perception that people impacted by overdoses are a certain way, but it’s really a community issue,” said Sprague. “Any one of us can be impacted by substance abuse.”
Kitchener will host another overdose awareness day on Aug. 27 in Victoria Park, starting at 4 p.m.