by James Matthews
There is much data that paints a picture of the drug poisoning crisis in communities under the umbrella of the Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge District Public Health unit.
But those dry figures, the impersonal numbers belie a crucial facet of the crisis, said Kate Hall, the unit’s public health promoter.
“Behind the data are our people, our loved ones, our friends, our families,” she said during Haliburton County council’s Nov. 27 meeting.
The drug poisoning crisis is a complex community health issue fuelled by synthetic opioids, Hall said. It’s impacts affect the drug users themselves, their families and friends, and the whole community.
“The drug poisoning crisis is characterized by unprecedented deaths from an unregulated drug supply that’s becoming increasingly unpredictable and more and more toxic,” Hall said.
Fentanyl was involved in most deaths, often mixed with stimulants.
Vidya Sunil, an epidemiologist with the public health unit, said the Haliburton-Kawartha-Pine Ridge area had a greater hospitalization rate for drug poisoning than the rest of Ontario in 2023.
The most deaths in the health unit’s region was seen in 2021 with 50 fatalities. Of those, eight were in Haliburton County. Last year, there were 36 deaths in the region with none in Haliburton County.
Between 2018-23, opioid-related deaths rose with a total of 205 drug poisoning fatalities. Fentanyl was present in 86 per cent of those opioid-related deaths in the Haliburton-Kawartha-Pine Ridge area in 2023 alone.
Sunil said there’s an overdose information dashboard on the public health unit’s website.
Hall said a four-pillar approach has been adopted to meet the recent spike in drug poisoning incidents in Haliburton County, Northumberland County, and the City of Kawartha Lakes.
The four-pillar approach to addressing the drug poisoning crisis has gained credibility by public health agencies throughout Ontario. Those pillars are prevention, treatment and recovery, harm reduction, and community safety.
Integrated comprehensive treatment programs are required to effectively meet the crisis. That includes social services connections with all levels of health care professions.
Hall likened that to an “all of society approach” to the crisis.
“Investment in programs that support families and address youth mental health are critical to reduce the risk of substance use disorders in adulthood,” Hall said.
To that end, youth wellness hubs have proven effective.
Of people surveyed with drug use experience, the most common method to ingest drugs was smoking. The relative few who indicated injection as the favour means of ingestion, more than two thirds reported that they have reused injection equipment in the last six months.
The stimulant of choice is crystal meth, while the more favoured depressant was indicated to be fentanyl.
Regarding identified local needs, 71 per cent of users surveyed indicated the greatest community support strategy would be having a safe place to live. Most wanted drug testing kits to increase harm reduction from drug use.
Dane Record, executive director of the Peterborough AIDS Resource Network, said substance use is a public health issue in all areas, all communities. A number of policing organizations have been working toward the decriminalization of drug use, having recognized it could be a mental health issue.
There are some police agencies that have a mental health nurse that accompanies officers responding to drug-related or mental health related crisis situations. A friendly face connecting with people at the time of incident using a softer handed approach can be effective.
