Blood Tribe dealing with drug emergency
FRAUD AND PROPERTY CRIMES UP
West of Lethbridge, the Blood Reserve has been dealing with a substantial drug crisis.
The problem has escalated to the point where a state of emergency was declared in February in response to a large number of drug overdoses in a short period of time.
At the time, there had been more than 30 overdoses and at least one death in a week due to an influx of suspected carfentanil into Blood Reserve communities. At the same time, the same drug was hitting the streets in Lethbridge, which caused more than 40 overdoses over a weekend.
Chief and council authorized additional funding in the amount of $750,000 as well as additional manpower to assist in dealing with the crisis.
Kevin Cowan, a health director for the Blood Tribe, said the Blood Tribe has been able to secure additional ambulances from neighbouring reserves, including a fully-staffed ambulance from Siksika.
“The activity, as an example, over the weekend, we had 150 ambulance calls,” he said at the time.
He said naloxone is being made available from Alberta Health Services in Calgary, and efforts are being co-ordinated through local and provincial departments regarding how to use it.
Blood Tribe Police Service distributed more than 50 doses of naloxone into the community in an effort to lend assistance to emergency responders.
A similar state of emergency was issued in 2015 after fentanyl in the community resulted in 16 deaths in the first three months of 2015.
In August last year, the federal health minister was in Standoff in order to discuss issues surrounding the opioid crisis on the Blood Reserve.
The event included presentations from those fighting the drug at the ground level, including health care providers, police, and even some former addicts who talked openly about addiction and their road to recover.
“It’s a devastating challenge,” Federal health minister Jane Philpott said at the time.
Sgt. Drew Kanyo of the Blood Tribe Police Service told those in attendance the efforts to curb drug use in the Blood Tribe is in need of funding and expansion. A dedicated K-9 officer with a drug-sniffing dog would go a long way toward helping ebb the flow of drugs into the community.
Between 2013 and 2014, trafficking charges went up 150 per cent. Between 2014 and 2015, they went up another 193 per cent.
“That’s a 340 per cent rise since 2013,” he said.
Possession has gone up 25 per cent in 2013-2014, and then 146 per cent in 20142015.
Theft and possession of stolen property, a main way for addicts to fund their habits, went up 160 per cent in 20132014, and 754 per cent in 20142015 — a total of 914 per cent in two years.
Fraud, another way addicts fund their habits, has seen increases of 275 per cent in 2013-2014, and 318 per cent in 2014-2015 for a two-year increase of 593 per cent.
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