With 252 overdose deaths from January to June in Quebec, 2022 is on track to become the second deadliest year – after 2020 – since the start of the opioid crisis. Despite this, the government still devotes inadequate resources to it, denounce the speakers.
Posted at 5:00 a.m.
After a record month of March, there were 136 other deaths linked to accidental overdoses between April and June, show the latest data from the National Institute of Public Health of Quebec (INSPQ), published this week.
Isabelle Fortier finds it hard to understand the lack of attention given to overdoses by politicians: “They don’t talk about the issue at all and we are in an election campaign! »
PHOTO PROVIDED BY ISABELLE FORTIER
Isabelle Fortier and her daughter, Sara-Jane, died of an overdose in 2019 at the age of 24
His daughter, Sara-Jane, died of an overdose in 2019, aged 24. Mme Fortier is now involved with Moms Stop The Harm, which “calls for an end to the failed war on drugs” through science-based prevention and treatment.
In the past 12 months, there have been 490 victims of accidental overdoses of opioids and other drugs in the province. For comparison, there were 347 deaths on the roads of Quebec in 2021.
“At the moment, the organization of health and social services does not meet [au problème] “says the DD Marie-Ève Goyer, medical director of homelessness and addiction services at the CIUSSS du Centre-Sud-de-l’Île-de-Montréal.
“The government response is insufficient, to the point of appearing to be absent,” laments Jean-François Mary, executive director of the CACTUS Montreal organization. In this context, “it is sadly normal to see such a terrible situation continue”.
Stakeholders point to illicit drugs increasingly contaminated with powerful synthetic opioids such as fentanyl, carfentanyl or isotonitazene, and benzodiazepines – another depressant – to explain the multiplication of overdoses.
PHOTO HUGO-SÉBASTIEN AUBERT, THE PRESS
Jean-François Mary, General Manager of CACTUS Montreal, analyzes the composition of a drug sample.
“The situation that I have seen for a year or two is unheard of in my practice, says the DD Goyer. We have very frequent deaths, people who are used to using drugs who, overnight, come across something very powerful. »
Despite this heavy record, the Ministry of Health and Social Services (MSSS) has allocated only $15 million to “measures related to the prevention and response to opioid overdoses” each year since 2018.
The envelope – which includes the sums allocated in the network and to harm reduction organizations like CACTUS – has not changed, while the number of victims has increased, protests Mr. Mary. The MSSS affirms that “this stability in the sums to be dedicated to prevention is crucial to ensure the sustainability of actions”.
It was insufficient at the time, it is even more so today, which prevents the establishment of new services to address this problem.
Jean-François Mary, Executive Director of CACTUS Montreal
Since 2017, his organization has offered a supervised injection service at its Montreal premises. Last year, he opened a fixed substance analysis program, the only one of its kind in Quebec, according to the general manager. But as of today, “this program still doesn’t have dedicated funding,” he says, so he doesn’t know if it will be able to continue next year.
Change approach
Meanwhile, “the public authorities are trying to act by the usual means, either by police repression”, which “does not work”, slice Mr. Mary.
In July, the MSSS published its 2022-2025 National Overdose Prevention Strategy. Spokesperson Marjorie Larouche indicates that one of the objectives is “to consolidate and increase the supply of supervised consumption and drug checking services in order to better cover regions located outside major urban centres”.
Mme Fortier insists on the need to “open the file of decriminalization” with the help of the federal government, as in British Columbia, where the crisis is even more serious. “It would be the first step towards a humane approach to drug use,” she says.
The DD Goyer agrees and adds that treatments – such as naloxone kits or the supply of safe substances – must be made accessible in all regions of Quebec. We must also systematically train health professionals to treat addiction, which is not currently the case.
This tells you how this population is the victim of stigma. If it was any other disease like COVID, like measles, it would have been over for a long time.
The DD Marie-Ève Goyer, medical director of homelessness and addiction services at the CIUSSS du Centre-Sud-de-l’Île-de-Montréal
“I often say that Sara-Jane is not only a victim of our failed and ineffective drug policies, but it was the stigma that actually killed her,” Ms.me Fortier. If she hadn’t felt stigmatized because of her use, she could have talked about it openly, she could have asked for help. »