Lambton Kent District school board is following measures taken by some other Ontario school boards to provide help if a student has an opioid overdose. Superintendent Gary Girardi said trustees were advised at Tuesday's board meeting in Sarnia that naloxone kits will be placed in all high schools across the region by month's end. He said the board has been working with the Chatham-Kent and Lambton public health units, which are providing staff to train high school office staff on how to administer the nasal spray. [continues 415 words]
Opioid drug use findings raise concerns about effectiveness of substitution treatment A study of drug use in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside concluded with 100 per cent of participants who used illicit opioids testing positive for fentanyl, raising concerns that higher opioid tolerance from the powerful synthetic drug could threaten the effectiveness of substitution treatment. The five-month study, led by University of British Columbia psychiatry professor William Honer, involved 237 high-risk participants. Of those, about half used opioids, either prescribed (such as methadone and buprenorphine) or nonprescribed (such as illicit heroin). Severe mental-health issues also played a significant role: About half had psychosis and one-third had mood disorders, illnesses that increase the likelihood of using illicit drugs. [continues 459 words]
"It's so unbearably soul-crushing," says Jennifer Johnson, referring to Niagara's exponential increase in opioid overdoses. "When is this going to end?" A report presented at a Niagara Region public health committee meeting this week shows a 335 per cent increase in the number of opioid overdoses that Niagara Emergency Medical Service paramedics responded to last year. In 2017 paramedics responded to 520 suspected overdoses, compared to 155 a year earlier. "You look at the news from out in B.C. and they've been knee-deep in this for years. But the numbers keep exponentially growing," said Johnson, co-founder of NAMES (Niagara Area Moms Ending Stigma), who lost her 25-year-old son Jonathan to a fentanyl overdose in April 2016. [continues 1239 words]
Last year was "the most tragic year ever" for illicit drug overdose deaths in B.C., prompting public health officials to push for the decriminalization of opioid possession and consumption to address the fentanyl epidemic. In 2017, 1,422 people died of illicit drug overdose deaths, up from 993 in 2016, chief coroner Lisa Lapointe said Wednesday. Victoria had the highest number of overdose deaths on Vancouver Island with 91, behind Vancouver (358) and Surrey (174). Lapointe said the epidemic in B.C. is "related to uncontrolled illicit fentanyl." [continues 667 words]
Health official says region needs to be able to treat more drug users With the second highest rate of illicit drug overdose deaths in the province last year, the overdose crisis in the Okanagan remains concerning and distressing, says chief medical health officer Trevor Corneil. "It means that everything we're doing, and we're doing a lot, is clearly not enough," he said. In the Okanagan, there were 150 overdose deaths, a rate of 40.8 per 100,000 people, in 2017, up from 77 deaths in 2016, a rate of 21.2 per 100,000 people, according to the BC Coroners Service report released Wednesday. [continues 676 words]
Kendall ends term by calling on province to think further outside the box, its comfort zones British Columbia's provincial health officer concluded his last day in the role with a call to further push the envelope in responding to the province's overdose crisis, which new numbers show killed more than 1,400 people last year. Perry Kendall said on Wednesday the year-end tally of 1,422 illicit-drug overdose deaths - a figure that works out to a rate of 29.6 per 100,000 population and will grow as outstanding death investigations are completed - show that B.C. is "still in the midst of a persistent and continuing epidemic of unintentional poisoning deaths. [continues 975 words]
Edmonton is giving more naloxone kits to those who need them, but much more work is required on the underlying drivers of the fentanyl and opioid crisis. That was the message left with city council after their quarterly update Wednesday. Dr. Chris Sikora, Alberta Health Services' medical officer of health, Edmonton zone, said childhood trauma and social factors such as poverty and a lack of housing leave people susceptible to addiction. With fentanyl, those addictions are taking an even more tragic turn. [continues 233 words]
'It doesn't help to have conversations that are fear-based' Nine people died of suspected overdoses in a span of five days last week in the Interior Health region that includes Nelson. Seven of those deaths were reported to have occurred between Jan. 23 to 26, with two more fatalities added on Jan. 27. A spokesperson for Interior Health (IH) declined to say what communities the deaths occurred in, citing privacy concerns. The health authority includes 59 municipalities spread throughout the Kootenay Boundary, Okanagan, East Kootenay and Thompson, Cariboo and Shuswap regions. [continues 536 words]
Public health is urging anyone who uses drugs to get a free naloxone kit. The call comes after Owen Sound police announced Friday that the highly potent opioid carfentanil was confirmed in a pair of investigations in the city. "All drugs are dangerous and we don't know oftentimes what is in other drugs. So you could be getting what you think is one drug when, in fact, there could be something else in it," public health nurse Lindsay Cook said Monday in an interview. [continues 351 words]
Health unit under fire for perceived lack of urgency in pursuing provincial funds Matt Cascadden, who lost seven friends last year to the raging opioid epidemic, is convinced a safe injection site in Windsor would save many lives. "It should be pushed, I think we need it big time, now," the 36-year-old Windsor man and former drug user said Thursday. Now living in a downtown residence, Cascadden contemplated the impact such a centre - part of an overdose prevention site currently being offered by the Ontario government - would have on the growing number of addicts who shoot up in parks, alleys and backyards. [continues 1009 words]
Langara journalism students attended the Jan. 18 Vancouver Police Board meeting When I'm not searching for the truth, or driving my sports-crazy kids around the Lower Mainland -- or deciding whether my tea of the day should be "super green matcha" or turmeric and ginger - I sometimes impart my semi-mad journalism skills on Langara College students. And sometimes, like last Thursday, those students join me on the job. We attended a Vancouver Police Board meeting, where we heard Insp. Bill Spearn of the VPD's major crime section tell us that overdose deaths in the city are still at a crisis level - at least 335 people are suspected of dying in 2017, with more than 80 per cent of the deaths connected to fentanyl. [continues 598 words]
Provincial health officer Dr. Perry Kendall will call it a career next week, confident that the tools are finally in place to tackle the opioid overdose crisis that has ravaged this province for more than three years. Kendall has been among the chief architects of B.C.'s response to the deadly wave of powerful synthetic opioids that have largely replaced heroin in the illicit drug supply. Deputy provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry will replace Kendall when he officially retires on Jan. 31. Henry will become the first woman to serve as B.C.'s provincial health officer. [continues 801 words]
TALLAHASSEE -- Two years after lawmakers approved a needle-and-syringe exchange program in Miami-Dade County, the House and Senate are considering taking it statewide and expanding the types of providers who can offer the services. House and Senate health care-panels on Wednesday approved bills that would allow hospitals, clinics, medical schools and substance-abuse treatment programs to begin offering needle-and-syringe exchange programs to try to reduce the spread of diseases such as HIV, which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated cost nearly $380,000 to treat over a lifetime. [continues 273 words]
Safe injection sites where addicts can shoot up in a supervised setting could be a hard concept for many to grasp as anything but an invitation for users to inject poison into themselves with the city's blessing. To believe that, though, would be a mistake. Philadelphia announced Tuesday it would support the idea of sites that would not only provide medical supervision to addicts but give them access to treatment and other services. Such a move won't solve the deadly opioid crisis, but is intended to be damage control ... literally. Such sites may control the fatal damage that drugs are inflicting, in a crisis that has laid waste to thousands of lives and families. [continues 443 words]
Dear editor: When is enough enough? Twelve years ago my wife and I decided that we wanted to move to the Okanagan. After a lot of thought and visits, we chose Penticton. What an absolutely wonderful place: sunshine, beaches, festivals, sports and if you stayed all winter very bearable But what has been happening is more break-ins, both on the personal level as well as businesses, thefts are a regular occurrence (the police know who most of these criminals are, it's mostly drug related) resulting in more and more fear amongst good honest citizens. [continues 340 words]
Londoner says security officers, often first on the scene, should be trained to use life-saving naloxone kits In the wake of several overdose deaths and an experience saving a man's life, a London security guard wants to spread the word about life-saving naloxone. "The really neat thing with the naloxone kits is anybody is able to use it. It sounds like a scary thing and it can be, but it is one of those things that can be used by anybody," Mathew Granger said. [continues 501 words]
GOOD Samaritan law aimed at saving lives during Canada's opioid crisis isn't getting enough public attention, proponents say. Members of all major political parties supported legislation that gives immunity from criminal charges to people who call for help during a drug overdose, but whether the law has encouraged people to call 911 remains unclear. Conservative and NDP health critics say the federal government hasn't done enough to advertise the Good Samaritans Drug Overdose Act since it came into effect in May 2017. [continues 604 words]
Temporary facility overdue 'because with every tick of the clock, someone else's life could end,' says ex-addict In a city where drug overdose deaths in the first three weeks of 2018 have nearly matched the entire 2017 death toll, there's finally an answer. Or at least a good start. Advocates say London's newly unveiled overdose prevention site at 186 King St. - the first of its kind in Ontario - is key to stemming the tide of overdose deaths in the city. [continues 555 words]
A four-pillared strategy to combat the region's opioid crisis was unveiled Friday by local officials. They zeroed in on improving treatment options, public awareness, physician and patient education, availability of the anti-overdose drug naloxone and harm reduction measures like needle disposal boxes and investigating a safe-injection site. "We can call it a crisis because it is affecting our community hard and our average rate of opioid-related death is way higher than the provincial average," acting medical officer of health Dr. Wajid Ahmed said at a morning news conference to announce the strategy that's been a year in the making. [continues 762 words]
The region served by Interior Health has been "hit hard" by the opioid epidemic, says the agency's medical health officer, but new tactics are being brought to bear in the fight. "We've come a long way, but unfortunately these deaths continue to occur," Dr. Silvina Mema on Thursday told the board of the Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen. Fentanyl is the sole reason for the Interior Health region facing the second highest number of overdose deaths in B.C., behind only the Vancouver area, she said. According to the BC Coroner's Service, almost 90 per cent of overdose victims had fentanyl in their system. [continues 293 words]
After Vancouver, Interior Health has the second highest rate of illicit drug overdose deaths per population. This alarming statistic was a sobering thought for regional district board members after hearing a presentation by health professionals on Thursday. Administrator Rae Samson and medical health officer Dr. Silvina Mema said fentanyl is considered the cause or "poison" that is overwhelming the illicit drug supply. BC Coroners Service data show a steady increase in deaths across the province since 2007. For example, the statistics indicate that Interior Health experienced a rate of five overdoses per 100,000 population in 2007, compared to 33 in 2017. [continues 347 words]
Less than three months after President Donald Trump declared the U.S. opioid crisis a public health emergency, the nation's governors are calling on his administration and Congress to provide more money and coordination for the fight against the drugs, which are killing more than 90 Americans a day. The list of more than two dozen recommendations made Thursday by the National Governors Association is the first coordinated, bipartisan response from the nation's governors since Trump's October declaration. [continues 615 words]
Three deaths, two hospitalizations, 48 hours. It doesn't get much scarier. As if the deadly opioid drug crisis sweeping London and the rest of Canada isn't alarming enough, London police amped up their warnings about the fallout Wednesday in the wake of three suspected drug overdose deaths and two hospital emergency cases spread over several days this week. The move came as city police and the Ontario Provincial Police held a rare joint public information meeting Wednesday night about the dangers of fentanyl, the most sinister opioid drug and one that's already been implicated in deaths in Southwestern Ontario. [continues 726 words]
Made-in-Alberta protocols change ways dogs sniff out fentanyl Alberta RCMP is leading the way when it comes to new police service dog drug detection protocols. Previously, sticking their nose in drugs was a police dog's business, but now the canines sit beside suspected drugs when they are found, said K Division Deputy Commissioner Todd Shean in a year-end interview. "Now the dogs are sitting back ... so if they detect it - versus putting the dogs in harm's way - they sit," Shearn said. [continues 234 words]
People in crisis are seen quickly, while access to needed services When she was mired in a seemingly endless drug addiction, Phyliss Sauve couldn't slog her way through the health care and social services systems that were intended to help her. It was nearly impossible to make or keep appointments with doctors, drug counsellors and social workers when she had no home, no phone, no car. "You don't see any way out, and I would get frustrated, so I would just keep doing what I was doing." [continues 1752 words]
Permanent facility replaces stop-gap trailer at Chumir Health Centre A permanent supervised drug consumption site will open its doors in the Sheldon M. Chumir Health Centre on Monday, replacing a temporary facility that handled 2,551 visits by more than 300 people in two months. Claire O'Gorman, program coordinator with Safeworks, said 55 overdoses were reversed between Oct. 30 and Dec. 31 at the trailer outside the health centre. "There's 55 lives saved already," she said during a tour of the facility Friday. "We're making a difference here in our community." [continues 450 words]
Adverse childhood experiences linked to drug abuse, says TrinaLarsen Soles. The opioid epidemic is the biggest public health crisis to hit B.C. in decades. Upwards of four people a day are dying of overdoses, usually due to fentanyl poisoning of the street drug supply. To date the B.C. government has committed $322 million to address the crisis, including opening more supervised consumption sites, providing naloxone kits, urging people not to use alone, and trying to stop tainted drugs from coming into B.C. [continues 668 words]
Corrections officials have antidote available for potential overdoses Fentanyl has been found within all the province's adult correctional centres, a provincial spokesman has confirmed. The drug has made the news repeatedly, blamed for a rash of deaths throughout the country. As with other trends in the illegal drug world, Saskatchewan has been far from immune, having witnessed a number of deaths and non-fatal overdoses related to this and other opioids. Drew Wilby, spokesman for the Ministry of Justice, said one other pattern has proved true here - that what's available on the streets is also available in jail. [continues 516 words]
Let's shift our approach, writes Dr. Trina Larsen Soles The opioid epidemic is the biggest public health crisis to hit in decades. One potential response, in addition to opening more supervised consumption sites, providing better access to Naloxone kits, urging people not to use alone, and trying to stop tainted drugs from being accessible - could be to deepen our public understanding and shift our approach to a more compassionate and effective outcome: recognizing and addressing the underlying role of adverse childhood experiences and how they make individuals more vulnerable to substance use. [continues 575 words]
They climb high buildings, bend steel and do dangerous jobs with little room for error, but while sounding a bit like superheroes, many fly under the radar as they struggle with mental health and addiction problems. A construction industry program that offers additional services and mental health treatment has seen demand more than double in the past year, driven by the fentanyl epidemic and the organization's efforts to reach more workers. "It is frightening what is happening in our industry. One of the reasons we are seeing so many people coming in is because they are scared," Vicky Waldron, executive director of the Construction Industry Rehabilitation Plan, told Postmedia News. [continues 994 words]
London police are warning the public that cocaine seized in November contained the deadly opioid fentanyl. Health Canada tests confirmed the presence of fentanyl - an opioid 100 times more powerful than morphine - in drugs found on a 33-year-old London man after he was arrested. "This is the first time in London that both cocaine and fentanyl were discovered in the same sample," police said in a news release Sunday. "It is not confirmed if the drugs were intentionally or inadvertently mixed." [continues 334 words]
Grieving father warns kids about dangers of drugs after son's death SMOKE from a smudging stick and the warm breath of friends and family of Jeremy Hobson filled the front yard of the house where the 21-year-old accidentally overdosed and died on the weekend, during a ceremony held Thursday. Jeremy died after taking a pill, which he thought was OxyContin, at a gettogether with friends and cousins on Saturday night, according to his father Larry Hobson. Hobson said he thinks the pill that killed his son was laced with fentanyl. [continues 792 words]
Higher-potency opioids lead to concerns about how to keep inmates and staff safe Alberta correctional facilities have recorded more than 120 overdoses in the past two years, and dozens more in federal prisons in the province, new statistics show. Postmedia obtained the data after a string of overdoses at the Edmonton Remand Centre. Since Nov. 29, at least three inmates at the remand centre have been found unresponsive in their cells after apparent overdoses, one of whom died. Despite efforts to keep contraband out of correctional institutions - including the use of ion scanners, body scanners and detector dogs - the statistics show deadly opioids such as fentanyl are still getting in. [continues 600 words]
Alberta correctional facilities have recorded more than 120 overdoses in the past two years, and dozens more in federal prisons in the province, new statistics show. Postmedia obtained the data after a string of overdoses at the Edmonton Remand Centre. Since Nov. 29, at least three inmates at the remand centre have been found unresponsive in their cells after apparent overdoses, one of whom died. Despite efforts to keep contraband out of correctional institutions - including use of ion scanners, body scanners and detector dogs - the statistics show deadly opioids such as fentanyl are still getting in. [continues 465 words]
Liability issues make area police, firefighters wary of administering opioid overdose antidote Naloxone for all? Not so fast. The province's newly-announced plan to equip front-line police officers and firefighters with the potentially lifesaving opioid overdose antidote free-of-charge isn't without its drawbacks, critics say - and emergency responders across Southwestern Ontario are divided on how to handle it. Sarnia officers have already saved one life by administering naloxone, an injectable or inhalable emergency drug that blocks the affects of opioid overdose. [continues 792 words]
Opioids linked to 95% of overdoses in provincial facilities through 2016 Alberta correctional facilities have recorded more than 120 overdoses in the past two years, and dozens more in federal prisons in the province, new statistics show. Postmedia obtained the data after a string of overdoses at the Edmonton Remand Centre. Since Nov. 29, at least three inmates at the remand centre have been found unresponsive in their cells after apparent overdoses, one of whom died. Despite efforts to keep contraband out of correctional institutions - including use of ion scanners, body scanners and detector dogs - the statistics show deadly opioids such as fentanyl are still getting in. [continues 602 words]
Police want laws to change regarding the drug naloxone Special Investigations Unit spokesperson Monica Hudon said the organization is mandated to investigate all deaths and serious injuries involving the police, and that includes cases "where the extent of alleged involvement was simply the administration of a medication such as naloxone." "Whether or not the administration of the drug by a police officer was the only interaction with a person who subsequently died or suffered a serious injury is for the SIU to determine," she said. [continues 537 words]
Correctional officers union boss reflects on issues, progress in 2017 Jason Godin, national president of the Union of Canadian Correctional Officers, has overseen many changes in the union that represents more than 7,400 correctional service officers across Canada at federal institutions, including approximately 1,000 in the Kingston area. Currently halfway through a third mandate as national president, Kingston-based Godin sat down with the Whig-Standard at the union offices in Kingston's west end to discuss issues for his members, which included the increasing amount of fentanyl coming into the institutions, recognizing correctional officers as first responders, post-traumatic stress disorder issues, the challenges with the beleaguered Phoenix pay system, and the settlement of a union contract that makes them the highest paid correctional officers in North America. [continues 1085 words]
NORFOLK COUNTY - Ontario Provincial Police say officers used naloxone to save a man's life while transporting him to Hamilton's Barton Street jail. Norfolk OPP credit "quick-thinking" officers for helping the 29-year-old man who appeared to have overdosed on opioids Friday afternoon. They administered three doses of naloxone, which is used to revive people in medical distress after taking drugs such as fentanyl. The man regained consciousness and began to respond to officers. Paramedics transferred him to hospital. [continues 111 words]
In the wake of a deadly opioid drug crisis that's killed hundreds in Ontario, London health officials are fast-tracking a pop-up, - -overdose-prevention site they want to have up and running by January. The stripped-down version of a supervised consumption site will give drug users a safer environment to inject. The location of the site, or the total number if there is more than one, hasn't been pinned down. But the plan is to have at least one as early as possible in 2018. [continues 747 words]
Officers fear SIU probe if they can't revive opioid OD victims with naloxone WINDSOR - The fear of officers getting into a legal jam for trying to save someone from an overdose has made the Windsor police service hesitant to embrace a medication that fights the effects of opioids. Police officials are not rushing to use naloxone, despite the province's offer to pay for it, because officers who try and fail to revive someone from an overdose would face an investigation by the Special Investigations Unit (SIU). [continues 235 words]
Narcotics back in the day were more a nuisance than anything else. Local police would regularly arrest people for possession of marijuana. Sometimes something more exotic like psychedelic mushrooms would materialize. The situation became more of a concern when cocaine and its derivatives appeared on the scene. Then came methamphetamine and opioids such as Oxycontin and hydromorphone. Heroin was never an issue locally like it has been in urban areas. Instead, rural areas like Norfolk and Haldimand skipped straight to more problematic substances such as fentanyl and carfentanil. These powerful synthetic opioids have caused the number of drug overdose deaths in Canada to skyrocket in recent months. [continues 408 words]
Nearly 7,000 life-saving naloxone kits have been used by harm reduction staff in B.C. so far this year and thousands more kits will be distributed by pharmacies to battle the effects of a contaminated drug supply. "That means you can get a kit at no charge if you use opioids or you are likely to witness an overdose," said Mental Health and Addictions Minister Judy Darcy. "Already, 1,900 kits have been distributed to over 200 pharmacies around the province." [continues 606 words]
Overdose Crisis: Thousands more kits to be distributed this year through pharmacies Nearly 7,000 life-saving naloxone kits have been used by harm reduction staff in B.C. so far this year and thousands more kits will be distributed by pharmacies to battle the effects of a contaminated drug supply. "That means you can get a kit at no charge if you use opioids or you are likely to witness an overdose," said Mental Health and Addictions Minister Judy Darcy. "Already, 1,900 kits have been distributed to over 200 pharmacies around the province." [continues 609 words]
No one forced Junior Hernandez to swallow the fentanyl, his grieving partner says, but did he understand it could kill him? Part Four in a series of profiles about the escalating opioid crisis in Quebec. Before his partner Junior Hernandez died of a fentanyl-related overdose, Christophe Cote says he didn't know much about the drug. Just before dawn, Junior Hernandez and his sky-is-the-limit friends spilled out of a downtown bar. They were heading to a friend's place to continue the revelry - drinking, doing coke and ecstasy. Once the drugs ran out, they called a dealer, hopping a taxi to his place. There, they found a stash of tiny, unfamiliar pills called fentanyl. The party ended hours later with Hernandez, 35, lying on a cold slab in a Montreal morgue. Hernandez didn't see the end coming. Neither did his friends. [continues 1346 words]
Life-saving drug now accessible after web tutorial People can now learn how to administer Naloxone, the antidote to opioid overdose, by watching a five-minute video online. St. Paul's emergency medical team led the project and launched the online tutorial this month to help more people access the life-saving drug. At the end of the tutorial, participants receive a certificate they can show at a nearby pharmacy, or any Naloxone dispensing site, to receive a free kit. Previously, people who wanted Naloxone would have to attend a training workshop before receiving a kit. [continues 189 words]
Since being equipped with naloxone nasal spray last December, Calgary firefighters have administered the opioid overdose antidote to 326 patients. That's nearly once a day, said fire Chief Steve Dongworth, who noted the department has also seen an increase in overdose calls. "We often go to overdose calls where we don't necessarily administer Narcan (the trade name of the drug), for one reason or another, and we've seen a significant increase in the volume of those, year over year - from under 400 calls in 2016 to nearly 1,100 in 2017 to date," said Dongworth. "So that's close to a 300 per cent increase." [continues 387 words]
Chief's comments come after confirmation that constable died from fentanyl overdose Toronto police Chief Mark Saunders says he's actively looking at drug testing for officers in the wake of a constable's fentanyl overdose death this year. "I don't want to lose any officers to anything, especially drugs of any kind and if there are things that we can do to reduce that, then I'm very interested in that," Saunders said Tuesday during a year-end interview. [continues 462 words]
'A year of growth year of finding our feet' WATERLOO REGION - When police chief Bryan Larkin talks about harm reduction and being more humane with the drug user, he gets pushback. When he suggests supervised injection sites may be an alternative to help users take their drugs safely and the site will save lives, he gets pushback. And when he flies the Pride flag at police headquarters, he gets pushback. In each case, he gets criticism from people in the community and sometimes from officers, too. [continues 985 words]
Where have all the dirty needles gone? Mayor's efforts have made a difference This past Thursday, on a wickedly cold afternoon, I combed the same Yonge-Dundas Sts.-area alleyways where dirty needles have proliferated, particularly since the opening of Toronto's first harm-reduction site. While we saw plenty of drug paraphernalia buried in the snow - orange needle caps, blue gloves, water bottles used as bongs and even remnants of a Naloxone kit - we found no needles. Perhaps the cold contributed to the fact that patrons of The Works on Victoria St. are not shooting up outside. However, Mayor John Tory's cleanup efforts appear to be working. [continues 506 words]
