THUNDER BAY — Last year the city of Thunder Bay had the highest per capita overdose death rate in all of Ontario and with the provincial government’s recent decision to close 10 safe consumption sites, those participating in this year’s Overdose Awareness Day fear the number of deaths will climb even higher.
“I think it’s going to be absolutely devastating for our community and for the clients in it,” said Kyle Arnold, a harm reduction support worker with the safer supply program at NorWest Community Health Centres.
“It’s heartbreaking. I’m not sure what’s to come. In the meantime, our clients are extremely broken-hearted. We’ve dealt with a lot of clients who are absolutely struck hard by it because that is where they come for safety, that is where they come for health care.”
On Wednesday, several health-care and harm reduction organizations, first responders, and members of the community participated in International Overdose Awareness Day at Waverley Park with the theme of ‘Together We Can.’
The purpose of the event is to raise awareness about the risks of overdose and connect the community with strategies and harm reduction services that are available.
“Having days like today is really important to raise awareness and to educate folks on the risks of overdose and how to mitigate those risks,” said Rilee Willianen, acting drug strategy lead with Thunder Bay Drug Strategy.
“It’s also a good time to honour those people who have been impacted or lost their lives to overdose and bring the community together to let people know there is support out there.”
According to the most recent data, the Thunder Bay census area had 77 overdose deaths in 2023, which was the highest per capita rate in the entire province.
Andrew Cuglietta, superintendent of community paramedicine with Superior North EMS, witnesses firsthand on a daily basis the impact more powerful street drugs is having on the community.
“Since 2019, our response was one overdose every 22 hours. Now we are one overdose every nine hours, which is quite concerning and alarming,” he said. “Our monthly data is trending in the wrong direction. We are hoping to work together as a community and work together with partners to influence that change that is much needed.”
Cuglietta said events like Overdose Awareness Day provide first responders an opportunity to educate the public on the increasingly dangerous street drug supply and steps that can be taken to mitigate overdose risk.
These steps could include using the digital lifeguard app for anyone using alone or how to properly administer naloxone to reverse the effects of an overdose.
“I think there has been a trend going in the right way in terms of easing those barriers to access naloxone and administer it,” Cuglietta said.
“We have seen it in our responses that individuals in the community are giving naloxone before our paramedics show up, which has been really great and has been essentially saving lives. I think it’s an area we need to continue to focus on.”
But Cuglietta added that with the potency of street drugs increasing, sometimes it may take more than one dose of naloxone to reverse the effects, or a person may relapse into an overdose after, which is why it is still important to call EMS.
Path 525, a safe consumption site operated out of NorWest Community Health Centres, has also played a pivotal role in overdose prevention and treatment.
Since opening in 2018, Path 525 has reversed 424 overdoses. It has also connected thousands of individuals with harm reduction services, treatment options, and provided important health-care services.
Earlier this month, the Ford government announced changes to safe consumption site locations guidelines, primarily that they cannot be within 200 metres of schools or child-care centres. This will force 10 safe consumption sites in the province, including Path 525, to close by the end of March 2025.
“I think we still need to remember that consumption and treatment services have been in place for six years,” said Juanita Lawson, chief executive officer of NorWest Community Health Centres. “The need for those services continues. One of the things we really need to plan for is how do we support clients who use those services?”
Willianen said it is difficult to say what the impact will be of Path 525 closing but given the services it provided and the number of clients it helped, there will likely be many challenges ahead.
“It is likely we will see more public drug use, an increased strain on emergency services and other health-care services, more deaths, more people overdosing,” she said.
Arnold, who struggled with addiction for more than 20 years before coming to Thunder Bay and accessing the services available five years ago, said his experiences allow him to know what others are going through and how to best help them.
But he also wants the public to know that addiction does not impact only a certain segment of the population or specific individuals, it affects everyone.
“We want them to know the deadly drug poisoning affects all families. There is no social demographic that it does not affect, and we want them to know there is help out there and we are doing our absolute best,” he said.
“Drugs are not the problem, they are the solution to our problems as addicts, and the problems we have are trauma. Being able to deal with that and having the supports in the community to be able to help us through that.”
