Overdoses | The underside of a great report

The journalist Philippe Mercure published last Saturday the great report “The invisible epidemic”, on the scourge of overdoses in Quebec. He tells here how he has led this project since last spring.

Philip Mercury
The Press

“This summer, it’s going to blow up. I have seen the train arrive for 15 years and there, we will be in it. There will be deaths. »

These words are those of the D^D Marie-Ève ​​Morin, family physician working in mental health and addiction at the La Licorne clinic in Montreal, and founder of the organization Projet Caméléon.

Last spring, I contacted the D^D Morin to find out how the opioid crisis sweeping through Western Canada had reached Quebec.

His remarks piqued my interest as a journalist. But they also shook me as a citizen and father of soon-to-be-adolescent children.

This was a subject of public interest to be explored further.

Early in my process, I asked the Coroner’s Office to send me all reports of overdose deaths that have occurred in Quebec since 2019. I had in my hands more than a thousand stories, each more tragic than others.

By scrutinizing obituaries and social networks, I managed to contact the relatives of some of these people who died. Several agreed to testify. Their motivation was always the same: to make their story known to prevent similar tragedies.

Each of these encounters was overwhelming. The people featured in the story showed great courage, especially given the stigma that still surrounds drugs. It is thanks to them that we have been able to put faces to the statistics.

reach consumers

In addition to relatives, I wanted to speak directly to consumers. People who have experienced the dangers of tainted drugs firsthand, but who have survived and can therefore testify to it. I wanted to understand the reasons that led them to consume as well as the impacts of this consumption.

To join them, I posted messages on virtual discussion forums used by consumers. Some addiction physicians have also agreed to approach their patients to verify their openness to telling their story. Community groups involved in harm reduction have also helped me connect with consumers.

Over the testimonies, one thing became clear: the people I had in front of me were of all ages, of all social classes, from all over Quebec. Stereotypes were shattered.

I also understood that the expression “opioid crisis” misdescribed the situation in Quebec. Contamination and mixtures of substances do not only affect opioids, but all types of drugs.

Lab and festival

To better understand the scourge, we managed to negotiate rare access to the Montreal Laboratory of Health Canada’s Drug Analysis Service. There, the drugs seized by the police are analyzed to see what they contain.

Some illegal substances like fentanyl or isotonitazene are so toxic that the equivalent of a few grains of salt is enough to kill a human being. The laboratory analysts therefore handle the drugs with gloves, often under fume hoods, with infinite precautions. The thought of such products ending up in the hands of consumers sends shivers down the spine. The same goes for the number of substances circulating — no less than 75 of them were identified in police seizures in Quebec last year.

The night spent with Urgences-santé was marked by adrenaline. Calls for “code 23s”, linked to overdoses, have continued to surge – there were 18 in Montreal and Laval that night.

We criss-crossed the metropolis from one end to the other, at full speed and to the sound of flashing lights. At the end of such a night, we understand that the figures on deaths are only the tip of the iceberg of the phenomenon of overdoses. Users who get away with it are not among the statistics, but nevertheless bear the full brunt of the consequences of contaminated drugs.

Immersion

The atmosphere was much more festive at ÎleSoniq, an electronic music festival. We followed the Psychosocial Research and Intervention Group there, which carries out drug analyses. We couldn’t show it on screen, but the speakers often have long conversations with consumers. A lot of information and valuable advice is thus passed on.

An immersion at the D clinic^D Marie-Ève ​​Goyer, researcher and doctor at the University Institute on Addictions, was full of emotions. Here, we go so far as to provide heroin to patients who are unable to wean themselves off excessively strong drugs from the illegal market. It was impressive to see the patients arrive, sweaty and overwhelmed with withdrawal symptoms. It was equally impressive to see them intoxicated and to interview them after their consumption.

A preconceived idea is that drug-dependent users only have to show the will to stop using. It’s wrong. To demonstrate this, we wanted to illustrate how opioids like fentanyl or heroin hijack the body and the brain. The graphic work here proved to be essential to the explanations. All of this reporting was a real team effort.

Did “the train” of contaminated drugs hit as hard as the D^D Morin last summer? It is still too early to tell, as the statistics are not available. We know, however, that the drugs mowed down 252 Quebecers during the first six months of the year.

Behind each of them lies a largely avoidable drama.