Forget the stereotypes. Contaminated drugs and counterfeit drugs affect Quebecers of all ages, from all regions and from all walks of life. Some survive it. Others leave their skin there.
Posted at 5:00 a.m.
Chapter 1
Ten faces of consumption
Described as the “champion of tablets”, Quebec deplores more deaths by overdose than by road accident. Journalist Philippe Mercure tells the story of 10 people who have overdosed or are addicted to drugs.
Chapter 2
Live Overdose
The Press spent a night with Benjamin Dansereau-Leclerc, supervisor at Urgences-santé, to better understand the phenomenon of overdoses.
PHOTO FRANÇOIS ROY, THE PRESS
Chapter 3
All of Quebec hit
Far from being concentrated in Montreal, the problem of overdoses affects all regions of Quebec. Using coroner’s reports, The Press has identified all the places where fatal overdoses have occurred in Quebec since 2019.
INFOGRAPHIC MAXIME JEAN, THE PRESS
Chapter 4
Forensic versus Clandestine Laboratories
Unless you buy your product at the pharmacy, you don’t know what you’re consuming
Gilles Vaudrin, supervisor of the Montreal laboratory of Health Canada’s Drug Analysis Service.
PHOTO MARTIN CHAMBERLAND, THE PRESS
On the right is a tablet of Dilaudid, a painkiller. On the left, the tablet contains isotonitazene, a potent synthetic opioid. The equivalent of a few grains of salt of this substance is enough to kill an adult.
Chapter 5
How do opioids hack our electrical circuits?
First there is the euphoria. Then tolerance, lack, dependence, sometimes overdose. Opioids like heroin, fentanyl and morphine have such powerful effects on the body and brain that four grains of fentanyl salt can kill an adult.
INFOGRAPHIC MAXIME JEAN, THE PRESS
Chapter 6
Preventing overdoses at festivals
With the contamination of drugs, each consumption is equivalent to playing Russian roulette. To reduce the risks, the Psychosocial Research and Intervention Group (GRIP) offers to analyze the substances of those who use them. The Press followed the team to the ÎleSoniq electronic music festival.
PHOTO FLORA BIDAUD, SPECIAL COLLABORATION
Chapter 7
When Doctors Prescribe Heroin
Faced with patients who consume increasingly stronger and more unpredictable drugs, some doctors adapt their treatments. Journalist Philippe Mercure and photographer Alain Roberge attended a prescription heroin injection treatment. When passing from The Pressin July, only three patients had already received such treatment in the entire province.
PHOTO ALAIN ROBERGE, THE PRESS
Chapter 8
Nine-track solutions
Whether it is to protect occasional users of contaminated drugs or to help those who have developed an addiction, there are many solutions to the overdose epidemic that is hitting Quebec.
PHOTO MARTIN CHAMBERLAND, THE PRESS