What is the extent of psychostimulant overdoses in the province? Impossible to say. The National Institute of Public Health of Quebec (INSPQ) has not published data on these deaths since 2020. And this, even if poisonings due to these drugs have tripled in the last decade in Quebec, according to data from the Bureau of the coroner obtained by The Press.
In April 2022, a 69-year-old man collapsed leaving his rooming house in Quebec, asking for help. His death was pronounced at the hospital. In May, in the same city, a 59-year-old woman complained of severe back pain. She lost consciousness in the portico of her building, in the company of a friend and two neighbors. Despite all cardiac resuscitation maneuvers, she died in hospital.
In July, in Trois-Rivières, a 42-year-old man with no known medical history was found dead in his home by relatives. In August, in Sept-Îles, a fifty-year-old collapsed while attending a party around a campfire.
All of these deaths have in common that they were caused by an overdose of methamphetamine, a stimulant drug that is increasingly common in Quebec, according to coroner’s reports consulted by The Press.
But if we don’t go through the coroner’s reports one by one, we will still have to wait until 2024 to have a complete picture of deaths linked to stimulants in Quebec for the year… 2021.
The National Institute of Public Health of Quebec (INSPQ) is waiting until all the coroner’s investigations have been completed before making this data public, which could take years, confirmed the Institute’s communications advisor, Aurèle Iberto- Mazzali.
This delay can harm the prevention of overdoses in the field, organizations say.
A marked increase
Intoxication from a stimulant – such as methamphetamine or cocaine – usually results in a heart problem that can be fatal. And no antidote can counter its effects.
However, these overdoses are on the rise, just like those due to opioids.
Between 2010 and 2020, deaths linked to stimulants (excluding cocaine) jumped 305% in Quebec, going from 19 in 2010 to 77 in 2020, according to data from the Coroner’s Office obtained by The Press.
Cocaine-related overdoses also increased during the same period, going from 44 deaths in 2010 to 105 in 2020, an increase of 139%.
As for opioid-related overdoses, they also saw a sharp increase of 208%, going from 73 in 2010 to 225 in 2020.
Missing data
What is the magnitude of stimulant overdoses in the province this year, in 2023? Impossible to say. Data on suspected overdoses in Quebec, updated by the INSPQ every three months, mainly focus on opioids.
This monitoring monitors the evolution of suspected poisonings in the province by separating them into three categories: overdoses linked to fentanyl, those linked to opioids excluding fentanyl, and those due to all other drugs or all medications combined.
However, this third category accounts for more than half of the suspected overdoses in the province between June 2022 and June 2023 – or 211 out of 418 –, according to the latest update from the INSPQ.
Questioned for more information on the substances found in this third category, the INSPQ indicated to The Press that this information “is not available”.
The picture could, however, change, because “work is underway to add details on the presence of other substances, such as stimulants,” said Mr. Iberto-Mazzali.
This lack of data is reflected in the pan-Canadian portrait of overdoses. In the latest report from the Public Health Agency of Canada, data on deaths linked to stimulants was not available for Quebec from 2021 to 2023, unlike that of other provinces.
Data that could save lives
Knowing more quickly the number of deaths suspected due to drugs other than opioids, such as stimulants, could nevertheless save lives, estimates Martin Pagé, general director of the Montreal organization Dopamine.
“For example, we are working to open supervised inhalation rooms, but we do not have much data on the consumption of stimulants,” he illustrates.
Crack and methamphetamine are often consumed by inhalation, but there is not yet a supervised inhalation center in Montreal.
The very first, run by the community organization Benoît Labre in the Sud-Ouest borough, recently received authorization to open its doors in January 2024.
PHOTO DOMINICK GRAVEL, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
Martin Pagé, general director of the Dopamine organization
Having more data would also make it possible to better target people at risk of overdose, adds Mr. Pagé.
“We know very well that these are often people in precarious situations, there are some who die alone in their homes, and we should be able to reach these communities with effective prevention,” believes he.
This data is all the more important because in Quebec in general, and particularly in Montreal, “it is the stimulants that are consumed in very large quantities,” recalls Andrée-Anne Parent, professor of social work at the University of Montreal.
We are still talking about the opioid crisis, but everything indicates that this is not the right lens to take for the situation in Quebec.
Andrée-Anne Parent, professor of social work at the University of Montreal
In the meantime, the crisis continues to grow in the streets.
For Jean-François Mary, director of the Cactus organization in downtown Montreal, Quebec should take inspiration from British Columbia. “There, they fund coroners who work specifically on overdoses and who update the data monthly,” he notes. It changed the situation on the ground. »