Before Justin Gill began working at Norwest Community Health Centers (NWCHC), he thought that fentanyl was the most toxic substance that affected drug users in Thunder Bay, Ontario.
But he was wrong.
Using the organization’s drug analyzing machine, it found traces of carps, which is 100 times stronger than fentanyl, and Nitazenos In the substances that people brought.
“That was very alarming,” he said. “People think they are getting one thing, but there are several things in their substance that can kill them in very small quantities.”
The district of Thunder Bay continues to have the highest mortality rate related to opioids in Ontario, almost five times the provincial average.
Meanwhile, the only supervised consumer site in the region, Path 525, closed at the end of March due to the new provincial rules over how close the sites for schools and child care environments can be.
NWCHC, which operated Route 525, is now the main partner of a new homeless and addiction people recovery treatment center (Hart) in the city. However, unlike supervised consumption sites, these centers do not allow drug use, safer supply or needle exchange programs.
To continue operating its medication analyzer machine, NWCHC sought a federal exemption under the controlled drugs and substances. The organization received support from the city of Thunder Bay to put the program in operation through the emergency treatment fund.
This week, the organization launched a new mobile dissemination van, which has been adapted to allow the machine to be used on board.
People think they are getting one thing, but there are several things in their substance that can kill them in very small quantities.– Justin Gill, worker to reduce damage
“It tells you exactly all the things that are there,” said Gill, who previously worked at Path 525 and is now a damage reduction support worker for the mobile dissemination truck.
“When people come to try their substances, I don’t know who they are or why they are trying it, right? But for any reason, everyone deserves to know.”
Increasingly toxic drug supply
Juanita Lawson, executive director of NWCHC, said the organization was already looking to offer mobile drug verification services before the closure of PATH 525.
“One of the exciting things we can do is go to places in the city, do it, we hope, more accessible to people who could not have entered our program,” Lawson said.
“Then, also go to events such as music festivals or go to places in the city where we know that people could be using substances and make sure they have access.”
The medication verification machine uses Raman laser technology to scan substances, making scanning of small samples or bulk scan through a transparent bag.
“You only need a small amount, so I’m not going to take a large part of the client’s supply,” Gill said.
NWCHC publishes summaries of its online drug tests so that the community knows what is in the street supply. In January, about 63 percent of proven substances They were not what customers expected.
The more toxic a substance, the more difficult it is to reverse the effects of an overdose caused by its consumption, Lawson said.
By educating people about what is in the substances they have, this allows them to make an informed decision on whether they want to consume them, he said, which in turn can reduce overdose rates and relieve tension in community medical services.
“Our workers who are on the bus can do a health teaching on how to use smaller doses or potentially not use that substance at all,” Lawson said.
Building confidence with customers
A key part of the success of the program are the on -board dissemination workers, who can build a relationship with people who use drugs in the community.
“We know that our dissemination workers can develop safe and reliable relationships with people who enter, without questions,” said Lawson.
“We just want people to be safe and we also want to provide some resources that they may need to navigate to other services.”
The lawyer for a long time Kyle Arnold is more than six years to recover from addiction and a well -known figure in the Thunder Bay recovery community. He is now a community support worker who specializes in addiction for Like #58 First Nation.
“I think it is so vital to have reach and dissemination [from] People with lived experience, because at the end of the day, we are very aware of how to deal with such situations, “said Arnold.
His hope is that the mobile range truck helps close the gap in the services resulting from the closure of Path 525, he said.
“Add a lot of security to the drug users community,” said Arnold.
NWCHC continues to use the Free Lifeguardconnect application to issue alerts about toxic substances in the community. The application includes information on opioids and addiction services.
Only for those who consume substances, can use the application to establish a timer, which will alert the emergency medical services of their location if it is not off, indicating a potential overdose.
The mobile dissemination van is operating from Monday to Friday from 10 am to 6 pm, although NWCHC is looking for comments on how it can be expanded in the future. A map will be published soon on the route that the truck will take and where people can find it.
