Overdose deaths in Quebec are increasing, and the problem may deteriorate

This is the first of the two articles that will focus on the issue of drug overdose in Quebec, where the situation is increasing and what needs to be done to curb this trend.

The 911 collar was in a state of shock.

After Sunday, September 10, 2023, after 4 pm, the caller stumbled on a group of five people and most of them, if not all, looked unconscious or dead.

As UrgencySantteCall records, the first team of paramedics reached the corner of Ontario and St.-Dominic Roads in the city of Montreal in two minutes and four seconds. Immediately after at least four more ambulances and two advanced emergency vehicles.

There was also an observer on the site to help managing chaos.

Last Tally: Six overdose – not five – and two of them were deadly.

Such a view is rare.

“We usually notice that there are many 911 calls from the same sector in a relatively short time limit, such as less than 12 hours.” ImmediatelyParamedic service that covers Montreal and Laval Islands.

The 42 -year -old mother, a three -year -old, is one of the two women who died.

She was one of the 536 people who reported a confirmation or dying after a suspected overdose in Quebec in 2023.

In 2024, Quebec had its own highest single-year total: 645 drug overdose death. It is about 53 people per month.

The concern is increasing that the province’s combat with toxic drugs is going to be more difficult and not being enough to curb this trend.

Sarah Larney, a researcher and associate professor at Universate de Montreal, said, “My concern is that we are very high in the early stages of becoming a very big problem, if we do not fundamentally transfer the way to address the issue,” Sara Larney said, a researcher and Associate Professor Professor said Sarah said.

‘There is no trajectory that comes down quickly’

Larney says Cubek “broadly has the worst shelter of overdose epidemic in Canada.”

In April 2016, BC’s province announced a public health emergency More than 200 people were killed In less than four months.

In all of 2017, Quebec recorded 181 cases of people who died after confirmation or suspected drug overdose, according to data from the province’s public health institute, Institute National Day Sant Public Do Quebec (Inspector). In 2018, it exceeded the total, with 424 deaths.

The next important spike came after the introduction of the Kovid -19 epidemic.

At first glance, death toll in Quebec Yellow compared to people in provinces like BC And Alberta. But fatal drugs are overdose Trending downwards In most parts of North America, while Quebec is going in the opposite direction.

“We have seen from other provinces that it is not a trajectory that comes down quickly,” Larney said, who co-written A 2024 study It was noted whether Quebec had entered a new era of drug related deaths.

Larney admitted that it could be difficult to indicate the causes behind the increase in deaths in Quebec. He said that drugs like Phantenl travel from west to east since the onset of epidemic, enabling various drug-trafficking players to join.

As the number of deaths due to drug overdose in the province increased, there is a number of emergency rooms for patients who consume opioids.

According to INSPQ data, there was a total of 1,095 in 2016. In 2024, it was 1,954.

The picture has changed

Experts have commented that the epidemic discontinued the boundaries, meaning fewer drugs were coming, including cocaine required to produce cracks.

Drug dealers are looking to maximize profits despite their low -cocaine supply, which start cracks with opioids such as fentinyls, which are used for pain management, but are also highly addictive and powerful.

Martin Rivest, an experienced of outreach work, has seen a change in drug consumption patterns in Montreal and in the disaster in and around it.

Rivet said, “There are moments where you are used to see on the road you have not seen now,” Rivest said, who works together Association Qaboise Por La Promotion de La Santte des Personus YouTelisatricus Day Dogs (AQPSUD), a group that advocates the health and safety of drug users.

“And this is like ‘Hey, we have not seen that person. Have you heard any news?” How does it go?

Andrene Desilets Montreal has been the Executive Director of Mason Benoit Labre – now for almost a decade, the site of a safe drug consumption site -. She remembers a time when people coming with signs of overdging were rare a few times per year.

He said that once the epidemic was hit, the overdose was often “a everyday thing”.

In many cases, Daclets said, people did not know that the drugs they used were opioids.

“The picture of 10 years ago, even five years ago, is different from nowadays,” he said.

“The only thing we are seeing is the number and going up and up and up because we do not have what it takes. We do not have the system that takes it.”

Last month, Montreal Public Health warned people of four recent overdose cases CarfentanilA synthetic opioid is 100 times more powerful than phenomenal.

Ruleu, for spokesperson ImmediatelyWhen you are alone, emphasize the importance of not using drugs, and preferably there are a visible naloxone kit in your possession.

In 2023, six together mentioning overdose, Rauli Said: “If these people had separated the drugs somewhere and no one would have paid attention, then perhaps it would have been bad in the end.”

‘1 relaxes and this happens’

One of the women who died after that incident, the north of Montreal, about 500 km north of Montreal, grew up in the Anishinabe community of Lac Simon in Abitibi region.

She was the youngest of eight brothers and the youngest, like her children, she lost her mother at an early age – about eight years old.

Cindy’s brother, Lucian Wabanik said, “She really remembered her mother at that age, who is also the head of the Lac Simon’s Anishinabe Council.

“It is important that we have that relationship with family and transmission (of culture), very often, even most of the time, these are our mothers who give culture and language.”

He describes his younger sister as an open mind, outgoing and a person with an easy-to-old man. She knew that she was using drugs going back to her teens. However, she said that before her death, she had gone a few months without using.

“And then a relaxed and what happens,” he remembered. “This is still very difficult. It is still fresh in our memory.”

Anishinabe chief, and others who knew their sister and Talked to Radio-Canada In the last year, believe that someone should be criminally attributed to his death.

He died at the center of three investigations: one by Montreal Public Health and others by Montreal Police and Coroner’s Office. He has given very little answers to this point.

In a statement by CBC News last month, a spokesman for the public health agency said it did not reach a “clear conclusion”.

“It was not possible for our teams to have access to the substance, which allows us to identify the same source for those drugs,” spokesperson Jinaveev Paradis said.

Nearly two years after the death of the Banonic, the office of Quebec Koroner said that its investigation was still not complete.

For Montreal Police, they say their investigation is closed. There was no arrest.

Deaf ears

Talking about the passing of his sister, the chief wonths are expecting more lighting for the plight of drug users in the entire Canada.

“We need to understand that people who live in situations were not always in that position, and they tried to get out but lack help.”

One of the next stages: It is realizing how the situation in 2025 is playing so far.

For some time of this month, the first quarter of this year is expected to publish data on overdose deaths.

CBC news interviewed among experts, there is not much optimism about where Quebec is going. This is at least partially due to lack of accountability from various levels of the government.

As Larney, Associate Professor, says: “There are many people on the ground who are making a lot of noise, but it is not making much impact with those who can make changes.”

On Friday, CBC News Cubek’s growing drug will publish an article focusing on the possible solutions to the overdose problem.