(rdnewsNOW/Josh Hall)

By Josh Hall (Twitter: @Vancan19)

"addiction thrives in isolation"

As deaths mount, Overdose Awareness Day means more for Red Deerians experiencing substance use

Aug 31, 2022 | 5:48 PM

Building hope was the goal for this year’s International Overdose Awareness Day, Aug. 31.

Turning Point Society held an event Wednesday evening, from 5-8 at the Rotary Picnic Shelter in downtown Red Deer. Community agencies were on hand, clients of the Overdose Prevention Site spoke to attendees, and there was naloxone training.

According to Turning Point, 440 central Albertans received overdose response training from Turning Point staff in the first six months of 2022. In that same span, 2,536 free to obtain naloxone kits were given to central Albertans.

Now trained to deliver life-saving help should they be carrying their kit and encounter someone overdosing on a potentially fatal drug such as fentanyl or carfentanil, those folks are part of the budding hope.

Stacey Carmichael, executive director, says the occasion is primarily for, “memorializing unnecessary overdose deaths, having conversations about drug policy and approaches to drug use, and creating awareness about the travesties that are happening globally, including here in Red Deer where people continue to die.”

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January through June of 2022, Red Deer recorded 30 deaths from opioid overdoses, up from 24 in that timeframe last year, according to the Alberta Substance Use Surveillance System.

Turning Point says while those 30 deaths were happening — during this year’s first six months — the Overdose Prevention Site (OPS) it operates had 18,806 visits.

That’s an average of 3,134 per month, about 731 weekly, or 104 each day.

In the first three months of 2022, the OPS had 264 unique visitors make 10,748 visits. Q2 (April-June) visitor numbers are not yet available.

“We have a community of people who are mourning and they come from our service users, our staff, family members, so this event is a really great opportunity for us all to come together and acknowledge that loss,” says Carmichael. “Maybe at the same time, we can inspire some hope.”

Hope is hard to inspire, she admits, when deaths are high, there is such a stigma around substance use, and vitriol is directed at people who use drugs.

“When you see the work you know is making a difference be demonized, it is difficult,” she says. “Not only do we believe in the work we do, we know it makes a difference, so we’re pretty committed. Our community and everybody in it is just worth it.”

Paul Martin, manager, Client Care and Programs at the soon to open Red Deer Dream Centre, says addiction thrives in isolation.

“With the phenomenon of addiction, no one enters into substance use believing an overdose or addiction is going to happen to them. In my career, I’ve run across the whole spectrum of socioeconomic backgrounds,” says Martin, who worked in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside for 14 years.

“Addiction grows when there’s that sense of shame. Recovery happens when they see they’re part of a community, that they’re not alone, and when they’re welcomed in and accepted.”

On his experience as an addictions counsellor in Vancouver, he adds, “I saw people get better and succeed with long-term recovery. Those who live with that stigma attached to them got better nonetheless, started families and engaged with giving back to the community.”

Martin says while the Dream Centre may take a different approach to Turning Point, he believes they do complement each other, each representing a valuable part of the end goal to save lives.

The Red Deer Dream Centre had its Business Licence approved by The City of Red Deer earlier in August, and says it will open Oct. 17 if able to raise $200,000 in operating funding.

On Wednesday, the Health Sciences Association of Alberta issued a call to action, demanding the government, “immediately restart the harm reduction programs they cancelled and expand publicly delivered addiction services across Alberta. The current ‘recovery only’ approach taken by this government is not working to reverse the rising death roll.”

The Alberta NDP put out a similar statement, saying that most importantly, all deaths from drug overdoses were preventable.

“By denying evidence-based services, backed by science, the UCP have failed Albertans. We can encourage treatment and recovery while also preventing further deaths through well-respected public health models,” says Mental Health and Addictions Critic Lori Sigurdson. “There is no reason the government should be contributing to suffering by refusing to expand life-saving treatment options and harm reduction pathways.”

The Opposition says it has an Emergency Action Plan to address the crisis.

Meantime, Alberta RCMP point out a 28 per cent increase in meth-related accidental overdose deaths from 2020 to 2021. Last year, there were 800 such fatalities.

Alberta RCMP have now launched a methamphetamine awareness campaign which will educate and engage the public, but also highlight the Alberta Clandestine Lab Enforcement and Response (CLEAR) Team and their role as a liaison with the chemical industry.

Associate Minister of Mental Health and Addictions Mike Ellis, too issued a statement, encouraging Albertans to download the free DORS app and to keep a naloxone kit nearby.

“When someone begins their pursuit of recovery, we’re here to support them,” says Ellis. “From free publicly funded detoxification and residential treatment spaces to the award-winning Virtual Opioid Dependency Program, help is available – no matter where you live or your personal circumstances.”

READ MORE: Red Deer Dream Centre looking to attract donors as doors open to staff soon