Content Warning: The following story discusses opioid addiction and overdose. The CHIMO helpline is available 24/7 at 1-800-667-5005.
If you suspect that you or someone else has overdosed, call 911 immediately.
Donald MacPherson is the director of the Canadian Drug Policy Coalition at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia.
In MacPherson’s words, the Canadian Drug Policy Coalition (CDPC) is “a national coalition of organizations and individuals working to improve Canada’s approach to drugs.”
The CDPC is participating in a regional community dialogue project across the country called “Getting to Tomorrow.”
Avenue B Harm Reduction, Ensemble Moncton, and AIDS New Brunswick are participating in the “Getting to Tomorrow” project, which took place Tuesday (November 17) and today (November 19).
Donald MacPherson: It’s called “Getting to Tomorrow: Ending the Overdose Crisis.” It’s responding to the crisis that started four or five years ago in various parts of the country. BC, Alberta, Ontario… now more parts of the country as the overdose crisis has expanded. It really is trying to note the urgency of the situation for people who are using drugs and accessing the illegal market, which is deadly toxic, since four or five years now. It’s also about getting to tomorrow getting to a new vision for an approach to drugs in Canada. Our approach is based on laws and policies that were developed in the early 1900s that stigmatize, criminalize, marginalize, and punish people who use substances. We really have to get beyond that, and move into the 21st century with evidence-based approaches. The dialogue project is to bring people together to really talk about the crisis that I think everyone knows is in their community. So many people in this country have lost a loved one, I know someone who’s lost loved ones. Between 16,000 and 17,000 people have died of illicit drug toxicity in the last four years in Canada. It’s an ongoing, serious problem that we don’t think is going to change unless we begin to change our policies and move towards an approach that is based on principles of public health, human rights, and social inclusion, rather than stigma and criminalization.
MacPherson says that fentanyl is a very lucrative, highly concentrated, and easy to transport across borders.
Therefore, it is not going away any time soon.
Meg Cunningham: It sounds like it might be a relatively new problem, in terms of the overdoses. Did I hear that correctly? It’s something like in the past five years, it’s gotten significantly worse?
DM: Yes, [in] the last five years the illegal drug market has changed dramatically with the introduction of synthetic opioids, fentanyl, and many analogs of fentanyl-like substances. COVID[-19] has made it actually worse. So wherever there are fentanyl overdoses taking place in the country, under COVID[-19] there are many more taking place. Overdoses have gone up in almost every jurisdiction in the country since COVID[-19]. Hit places like the Yukon, which were having seven or eight overdoses a year, now are up to 19 or 20 for this year. PEI, Nova Scotia, every jurisdiction is doing worse under COVID[-19] in terms of the overdose rates.
MC: With COVID-19, there’s been significantly more opioid-related deaths. I’m wondering specifically why that might be, and I’m wondering if it has to do with people using alone? Would that be one reason?
DM: Yeah, it’s a number of reasons. One, the drug market became more toxic. So the coroner’s offices are finding more highly concentrated fentanyl in people’s bodies who they are examining. But as you say, also COVID[-19] socially distancing people is dangerous when you’re using opioids. So using alone is dangerous. I think more people are using alone. Navigating the drug market, which is a daily activity for many people, is more difficult. You have to interact with a lot of people when you’re encouraged to stay home. Groups aren’t meeting, services have restricted hours depending on their staffing structure and the space that they have to work with. So there’s a number of reasons why people are even more marginalized at this moment. COVID[-19] has not helped, both in terms of the drug market, but also accessing service and taking care of each other.
According to the “Getting to Tomorrow” website, life expectancy at birth has stopped rising for the first time in four decades as a result of the ongoing overdose crisis.
Clinic 554 in Fredericton recently closed its doors in October after the provincial government denied it funds for abortion procedures.
The clinic also provided opioid replacement treatment for opioid users in the area.
MC: Can you talk a little bit about the significance of opioid replacement treatment just so that I can provide context as to the significance of the loss of that clinic, it was pretty one-of-a-kind in terms of our province.
DM: Opioid replacement therapies are absolutely essential, especially at this moment in history, especially when the drug market is so toxic. To be providing people with an opioid replacement whether it’s methadone, or whether it’s hydromorphone, or in some cases whether it’s diacetylmorphine, which is a synthetic heroin. Really, that’s going in the wrong direction if access to that kind of services is being reduced. We actually need to expand those kinds of services to give people an alternative approach. That’s why the discussion of providing a safe supply of substances is really taking off across the country. We would do this in any other poisoning situation. If the food was poisoned or the water was poisoned, we’d be helping people access clean water, clean food. The drug market now is poisoned. We really need to be helping people access a safer supply of substances and safe supply of opioids that are pharmaceutical products. We would see far, far fewer toxic drug deaths. So those clinics really do need to be supported, expanded. [They] are a real lifeline to people at this particular point in time.
MC: This is my last question for you. Say somebody is listening to this interview in a smaller community, like Sackville where I live. What are some specific things that an individual could do, let’s say, in the next week?
DM: Well, learn more about the situation. Come to the “Getting to Tomorrow” website, the Canadian Drug Policy Coalition website, and a number of other websites in the country and get educated on the latest thinking around the drug policy. Write to your member of provincial legislature or your MP. Say, “Look, we need to change Canada’s approach.” Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results is the definition of insanity. Contacting a local service provider to either offer help, assistance, volunteering, a donation, or just a chance to learn more about what’s happening in your own community around this issue. The drug market exists everywhere. People have addictions everywhere, and sticking your head in the sand is not going to make it go away.
Treatment programs nearby include the following:
Moncton Addiction Services Methadone Treatment Program, 135 MacBeath Ave.;
The Moncton Hospital Methadone Treatment Program, 125 Mapleton Rd.;
and the Corner Drug Store on Main Street in Sackville offers free safe injection kits.
The Opiate Addiction Resource helpline is confidential and available 24/7 at 1-800-785-6890.
