On October 22, Philippe Mercure published the report “Overdoses: The invisible epidemic”. He testified to the extent of the crisis and its impact on drug users and their families. We would like to congratulate him for his work, but we want to add some nuances and share additional information.
Posted at 12:00 p.m.
On the basis of the pan-Canadian research that we are conducting, “On the road to overdoses”, we would like to testify to the preponderant role of community actors in the prevention of overdoses and in the intervention with people at risk. Most of the actions carried out with people who use drugs are carried out by workers from community organizations and unfortunately, the articles published in The Press underestimate their actions.
This is symptomatic of a more general lack of recognition, particularly on the part of the various levels of government, leading to underfunding of services and limiting the sustainability of structuring or innovative interventions, policies and programs. The results of our research, in which we met with social workers, peer helpers, service users and activists, are alarming because the challenges are great and the needs glaring.
The current context forces the organizations involved to rethink their interventions and to innovate in a short period of time, too often with few resources.
In this regard, the National Overdose Prevention Strategy leaves us dubious. First of all, it ignores social inequalities and other crises that act in synergy with that of overdoses, such as the housing crisis. It relays the fight against inequalities to more general policies concerning the entire population. It also limits the support and accompaniment role of community players by proposing targeted actions that ignore a global approach.
However, workers, peer helpers and activists, thanks to their proximity to people at risk of overdose, work to rebuild and maintain bridges between individuals and society. They form a social safety net that comes as a bulwark against situations of rupture, discrimination and oppression experienced by many people.
Stigma
Finally, we would like to remind you that the organizations reach those whom the health and social services network cannot reach, often because of stigmatization or a service offer that is unsuited to people’s living conditions. In talking to them, it is appalling to learn how much their rights are violated. For example, interactions with the police remain difficult, despite the Good Samaritan law, which limits recourse to their services when a person experiences an overdose. Rather, it is the workers, through the relationship they establish, who will act as a bulwark and “repair” the social bond eroded by mistrust that has set in following traumatic interactions with institutions.
As one person we met in an organization told us: “There is a lack of personnel and services because the government does not give enough subsidies to these people. There are a lot of things that could be resolved by the community and remove a charge, for example from the police. The police are not equipped to intervene socially speaking, they are equipped for other things and are useful in many circumstances, but for this level, they do not have it. »
Unfortunately, we fear that the experiences of people who use drugs will remain invisible, while the new strategy remains almost silent on these issues and the phenomenon of overdoses seems to be of little interest to Quebec politicians. As a society, fighting for the social justice of a group of people benefits the well-being of all. Let’s give the necessary support to those working at the forefront of the overdose crisis and who, after all, have the expertise of the situation!