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$1.00 TribuneCONNECTED TO YOUR COMMUNITY GUELPHMERCURY.COM. Bracing for the DawsonDental.ca Dentistry coming For little & BIG crisis Chickens Guelph emergency services prepare as tidal wave of opioid overdose What’s deaths hit Ontario inside Chris Seto Letters 6-7 [email protected] Sports 23 As a teenager, Lauren was pre- LifeNews 27 scribed Tylenol 3 with Codeine to help her deal with pain after she slipped a disc in her back. Striking gold The pills worked well initially, Tribune photo by Doug Hallett but over time she found they weren’t Five-hour ‘yogathon’ for AIDS relief strong enough. She then moved on to Amanda Wood, left, was one of 83 participants in the second annual Yoga for Hope fundraiser at Bishop Macdonell high Percocet, and they too worked well at school Saturday. It raised close to $5,000 for Bracelet of Hope, which helps kids affected by AIDS in Lesotho, Africa. the beginning but lost their edge over time. When her doctor told her she ‘I think people are ready for it’ wouldn’t be given anything stronger, she sought out drugs on her own. Could Guelph be one of 1,000 cities to commit to 100% renewable energy? “That’s how it all starts,” the Guelph Doug Hallett from registrants that the venue had people. woman said in an interview last month, [email protected] to be changed. “We want to take the tempera- now a decade after her addiction to The 7 p.m. meeting on Friday ture of people in the city, see if there Gryphons win second opioids began. March 24, which is part of Transi- is any appetite for this, see whether straight OUA women’s She said her story is the same as Interest in a meeting later this month to discuss whether Guelph tion Guelph’s 2017 Resilience Fes- this makes any sense for us to hockey title on home ice. countless others across the country tival, has been moved from the Old pursue as a city,” eMerge Guelph who have become dependent on opi- should join 1,000 communities Page 23 worldwide that have declared Quebec Street premises of eMerge executive director Evan Ferrari says oids while treating some sort of trauma Guelph. The new venue is Innova- of the event presented jointly by his or pain. their intent to achieve 100 per cent renewable energy by mid-century tion Guelph’s larger quarters at 111 organization and Transition Guelph. Continued on Page 8 has received such a big response Farquhar St., which holds about 80 Continued on Page 12 PAGE 8 • TRIBUNE • Tuesday, March 14, 2017 ‘A significant and serious threat to the community’ From front page Det.-Sgt. Ben Bair, who heads Now 26 years old, Lauren said the drug unit for the Guelph Police she’s been clean for a little more Service, said the synthetic drug is than two years. She’s in college and being moved into western Canada volunteers as a harm reduction from China and is quickly spreading advocate at the Stay Sharp needle east. The drug is making its way onto exchange downtown. At her request, the street after it’s pressed into coun- the Mercury Tribune has agreed not terfeit pills or it’s cut with a cheaper to publish her last name for privacy drug and sold as heroin, he said. But reasons. drug dealers don’t tend to go to great Working directly with substance lengths to accurately mix their drugs. users at the Guelph Community “They just take powder and mix Health Centre, providing them with it with a powder. As a result, you get new needles and educating them on hot spots, you don’t have it evenly staying clean, Lauren said she under- mixed across the thing that they’re stands what many of these users are selling.” going through. Bair said in 2015, traces of pow- “I’ve seen it. I get it,” she said. dered fentanyl began showing up in “They’re bound by it until they wake heroin seized by Guelph Police. In up and realize there’s other ways to 2016, police found most of the heroin get rid of the pain.” they seized was actually made up of When she herself was bound by more fentanyl than heroin. it, Lauren would use OxyContin or “What we’re finding now is there’s heroin, in pill form, mixed with other less that are mixed,” Bair said. “It’s drugs like methamphetamine. While becoming much more common to she stopped short of ever injecting have just fentanyl — not fentanyl and these drugs into her body, she said heroin — just fentanyl.” DAN PEARCE/METROLAND she would chew or snort them. In British Columbia, there were at People who use drugs and their allies gathered at Bay and Wellesley streets in Toronto last month before a walk down to Locally, opioid overdoses are on least 374 overdose deaths connected Toronto Police Headquarters. The National Day of Action on the Overdose Crisis — They Talk, We Die memorial march to the rise and bootleg fentanyl is sus- with fentanyl in 2016. Last month, demand action on the overdose crisis was held Feb. 21. The same action was held in eight cities across Canada: Vancou- pected of driving this increase. Alberta’s Associate Health Minister ver, Victoria, Nanaimo, Edmonton, Toronto, Montreal, Halifax and Ottawa. The powerful drug is up to 100 Brandy Payne said 343 people died times more toxic than morphine — from fentanyl overdoses last year, up with the Vancouver police in the to provide naloxone to people suf- police and giving up their dealers. two milligrams, or a few grains of the from 257 in 2015. city’s Downtown Eastside. After- fering from an overdose. Naloxone, People who are addicted are put- opioid, would be enough to kill the Earlier this month, Prime Minister wards he spoke at a news conference, also called Narcan, temporarily ting themselves at great risk when- average person. Justin Trudeau went on a ride-along outlining the crisis. counters the effects of an opioid ever they buy drugs off the street, he “This is a crisis that seems, for overdose. Prior to February 2016, said. most Canadians, to be very far away. only advanced care paramedics were “Don’t trust your dealer, because Something that’s limited to certain permitted to administer this drug. sometimes the dealer doesn’t know tougher parts of town, to the West Guelph police are in the process what it is.” Coast, but we are seeing a spread of of discussing whether or not their At Guelph General Hospital, doc- opioids across the country and we’re members should be carrying nal- tors are seeing patients with signs of seeing it spread far and wide across oxone with them, to be ready when opioid toxicity on a weekly basis. socio-economic levels, across com- they’re first on scene. “Probably several in a week,” said munities.” “Every police service knows about Ian Digby, chief of emergency. “It’s Leanne Swantko, deputy chief it and every police service recognizes been a gradual creeping increase.” of Guelph Wellington Paramedic it as a significant and serious threat But it’s difficult to paint an accu- Service, said the service is not cur- to the community,” Bair said, com- rate picture of opioid use in Guelph rently seeing a surge of opioid calls paring the spread of fentanyl to a because there are no local numbers in Guelph, but the situation is being runaway train. available. He said up until now, monitored closely. We’re in a hold- “Long-term, it’s very difficult to there’s been no way of keeping track ing pattern, she said, waiting for the say what’s going to ultimately stop of this type of data. this,” he said. Enforcement, targeting SOURCE: HAMILTON POLICE spread of bootleg fentanyl, or the “This issue of increasing opioid An illustration of a fatal dose of heroin, left, compared with a fatal dose of more dangerous carfentanil, to hit the trafficker and not the user, will use, it’s probably been brewing for fentanyl, a highly addictive drug estimated to be up to 100 times more potent the city. help limit the flow of this drug into many years,” he said. The severity of than morphine. Health Canada estimates a lethal dose of pure fentanyl for a “We know the what. We don’t the community, he said. But this is the situation is slowly being identi- not always easy, because users aren’t typical adult is as little as two milligrams, which is approximately the size of 32 know the when,” she said. fied through coroners’ data. always open to cooperating with grains of table salt. All local paramedics are now able

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[email protected] Look for your community guide.. 1-866-838-8960 coming out March 21st To view last year’s Guelph Community Guide go to www.guelphmercurytribune.com Guelph Mercury TRIBUNE • Tuesday, March 14, 2017 • PAGE 9 Fatal overdoses related to fentanyl growing in Ontario In Wellington County, the pre- support program and they’re put on liminary figures from the Office of the a waiting list, they’re not likely going Chief Coroner and Ontario Forensic to be able to wait it out, she said. Pathology Service show there were There is no local short-term detox three deaths attributed to fentanyl clinic in Guelph. The nearest facili- use in 2015. The numbers for 2016 ties are in Kitchener or Hamilton. were not yet available. Adrianne Crowder, manager of According to the service, in 2015 the Wellington Guelph Drug Strat- there were 166 deaths in Ontario egy, said later this spring a rapid where fentanyl was seen as a direct access clinic will be launching in the contributor. This number has city. It will be open once a week as a increased each year since 2010, when place where users can meet with an 86 fentanyl-related deaths were addiction medicine specialist and reported. In many of these cases, at have a treatment plan developed. least two different opioids contrib- Counselling services and someone uted to the death, said Cheryl Mahyr, with lived experience will also be issues manager at the coroner’s available on-site. office. ••• “The impact of opioid medicines in general, I think, has been under- ‘Juice’ Cunningham is a 40-year- estimated for many years and we are old Guelph man who has been using just becoming aware of it in the last injectable drugs since he was 14. Last six to 12 months,” Digby said. “We’re month he said he was taken to the really learning that there’s a lot more hospital after overdosing on what potential risk with opioids for the he thought was methamphetamine. MATHEW MCCARTHY, average individual than we once All local paramedics are now able to provide naloxone to people su ering from an overdose. Naloxone, also called He was out with someone he used thought. Narcan, temporarily counters the e ects of an opioid overdose. Guelph police are in the process of discussing whether or to know and was given fentanyl, “There are risks of developing not their members should be carrying naloxone with them. although he was told it was meth, he dependency and addiction even said. His brother ended up injecting from short-term use of a few days him with naloxone and getting him At the time, she said she or a few weeks. And that could lead syringes. Over the past several years, to the hospital to save his life. was fortunate enough to to lifelong severe consequences for the program has handed out nearly Every once and a while Cunning- have a network of people individuals if they become addicted 30 per cent more syringes with each ham speaks in schools and in front around her to help her Every junkie wants the to it.” passing year, she said, adding most of small groups about his life as a through the process — not Natalie Basaraba is a harm reduc- of those syringes are for opiate use. best stuff. As soon as I drug user. These presentations are everyone is so lucky. tion outreach coordinator at ARCH Although there are exceptions, designed to help keep students from After receiving a lengthy hear somebody’s died, Guelph and coordinates the Stay the majority of those using the nee- doing drugs. treatment in Oakville, she Sharp needle exchange site. dle exchange program are living in I’m like, where do I get it? His personal stories are chill- enrolled in school and is She said most people who come poverty and some have undiagnosed ing. Leaning back on a couch at the now on track to graduate to get new needles and supplies from mental health issues, she said. Users ‘ downtown Community Health Cen- this spring. During her sum- the program are not using street are aware of the dangers of fentanyl ‘Juice’ Cunningham tre, he says he’s seen friends die from showing up in a mislabelled pill and mer off last year, she spent heroin but are injecting prescription 40-year-old addict overdose and he’s saved the lives of five months in Vancouver’s medications. Some of these people, a lot of them are scared, she said. But others by giving them naloxone. Downtown Eastside, work- similar to Lauren, developed an they can’t just drop the habit; their With the spread of bootleg fen- ing with substance users addiction to opiates while dealing addictions don’t just disappear. tanyl over the past few years, he said and doing whatever she with chronic pain issues. “The potential for overdose is he’s now taking a closer look at the could to help them. As the government cracked down very deadly and very real,” she said. “It was tough being there, but I drugs he uses before injecting them “I knew there was a drug crisis on prescribing opiates, this pushed “Their friends are dying. They know beat it,” she said. “I don’t think I’ll into his arm — fentanyl has a certain and I wanted to use my life experi- people to use other opiate substanc- people who’ve died. They’re tired of ever touch that (drug) again.” look and feel to it, he said. ence to help out, working with sub- es to avoid going through withdraw- going to funerals.” Lauren said she was lucky to have But instead of avoiding the stuff, stance abusers and getting them into al. “A lot of drug use, particularly the resources around her when she Cunningham said he and many treatment and detox,” she said. “It around opiates, involves avoiding ••• made the decision to come clean. other users are actively looking for was very, very eye-opening.” withdrawal. Most people using for For many users, the transition isn’t strong drugs. They just want to know Describing some pockets of the a while honestly aren’t getting that In mid-January in 2015, Lauren so smooth. what it is before they inject it, he said. city in graphic detail, she said there high. They’re avoiding withdrawal,” said she had an epiphany: she was “It’s easy just to fall through the “Every junkie wants the best stuff. are areas of Vancouver where people Basaraba said. going to break free from her addic- cracks,” she said. A user may have a As soon as I hear somebody’s died, could be seen sitting against a build- Last year, the Stay Sharp pro- tion to opioids and go back to school 20-minute window where they really I’m like, where do I get it?” he said. ing next to a pile of needles. gram handed out more than 240,000 to become a social worker. want to change, but if they call up a Continued on Page 11

Looking to supplement your income? We can help! * Deliver the Guelph Mercury Tribune 2 times a week! If you’re interested in delivering the Guelph Mercury Tribune... call Lilian at 519-763-3333 ext.290 *Denotes that a carrier is an independent contractor Your Voice in Guelph… PAGE 10 • Guelph Mercury TRIBUNE • Tuesday, March 14, 2017 A How did we get here? primer These things are being on produced in places where we don’t know the opioids quality of their chemistry. It’s a huge public by Chris Seto ‘ health concern.

Adrianne Crowder Wellington Guelph Drug Strategy

What are opioids? an overdose, even if a person is feeling better opiate. after receiving naloxone. “These things Opioids are potent painkillers that can be “It’s an amazing thing to see the response. are being pro- found in nature (opium poppy) or created in Within 15 or 20 seconds, the individual who duced in places drug labs. In addition to treating pain, opioids was basically comatose is now responsive and where we don’t can give users a feeling of euphoria and have awake,” he said. know the quality of the potential to be very addictive. But if too much of the drug is given, it can their chemistry,” Entering the body by mouth, by injec- push someone into a complete withdrawal he said. “It’s a tion or by a patch on the skin, opioids travel in seconds. Digby said they have a phrase at huge public health through the bloodstream and interact with the hospital to help remind them of this when concern. These proteins called opioid receptors found in the administering naloxone: “go low, go slow.” clandestine labs brain and other areas of the body. The nasal spray version of the drug is that are just trying The drug can be used to suppress pain available at select drug stores. Delivered in to make money or calm a severe cough, but it can also cause this form it’s around seven times stronger and putting a lot of nausea, vomiting, sweating, depressed respi- than the injectable kind. people at risk.” ration and decreased levels of consciousness. Naloxone can be administered by all An overdose occurs when a substance user’s Guelph Wellington paramedics, and can also be obtained free at drug stores around the breathing slows down to dangerous levels, or Fentanyl pills are shown in an the user stops breathing entirely. city. Guelph police and firefighters are still updated handout photo from Alberta Examples of opioids include fentanyl, discussing whether or not they should also Law Enforcement Response Teams. hydromorphone, codeine, morphine, oxyco- have naloxone on hand as first responders. done and heroin. The rise of ‘bootleg’ fentanyl What is naloxone designed so it couldn’t be crushed or broken How did we get here? down to be injected. and how does it work? The British Columbia Coroners Service reports 922 people died in 2016 as a result of This pushed users to seek out other opi- “Canada is the second largest prescriber of illicit drug overdoses. This is 80 per cent high- ates, Bair said. Pharmaceutical fentanyl, pri- Naloxone, also known as the brand name opiates in the world and Ontario is the high- er than the 513 overdose deaths in 2015. marily through transdermal patches, became Narcan, is a temporary opioid-receptor est opiate-prescribing province,” Crowder Illicit fentanyl accounts for much of the one of the popular choices among users. To blocker. said. Since the 1990s, opiate prescription has increase, the service reports. Excluding fen- combat this, a patch-for-patch program was Ian Digby, chief of emergency at Guelph increased in volume and frequency. tanyl, the number of illicit drug overdose launched, forcing people to return their old General Hospital, said naloxone can almost “Initially people took a drug that helped deaths has remained relatively stable in the patches in order to get new ones. instantly reverse the effects of an opioid over- them with a bad back or a physical pain, and province since 2011, averaging 293 deaths per The program effectively removed many of dose. It can be administered through an injec- they found that opiate also helpful to them year. these patches from the street, but left users tion or through a nasal spray and only lasts around social or psychological trauma. So, Adrianne Crowder, the manager of the looking for something else to satisfy their for a short amount of time before wearing off. people became addicted.” Wellington Guelph Drug Strategy, said this addiction. This is why medical attention is needed after When people were taken off their opiate illegally produced “bootleg fentanyl” is “By this time we now have people addicted prescriptions, some found they still craved the spreading east across Canada and has already to heroin and fentanyl,” Bair said. “What drug, having developed a physiological toler- arrived in Guelph. we’ve developed up until now is an increas- ance to opiates. Without getting their fix, the This synthetic opiate is believed to come ing dependence on a stronger and stronger withdrawal symptoms would creep in. The from China and is sold in pill or powder form. opiate.” higher the tolerance, the worse these symp- It’s roughly 50 to 100 times more toxic than This is where powdered fentanyl comes in. toms would be. morphine and has been found mixed in with Pharmaceutical-grade fentanyl and fentanyl Vomit, cold sweats, jitters – it’s like the other street drugs such as heroin. analogues are being smuggled into the coun- worst flu anyone could ever have, Crowder Traces of the drug have also been illegally try from China and manufactured in clan- said. “It’s not life-threatening, but it feels life- pressed into pills which are then mislabelled destine labs domestically. Bair said for most threatening.” as something else, such as OxyContin. people without any opioid tolerance, as much To avoid feeling these symptoms, people “Because people purchase drugs off the as two milligrams — a few grains — would be turned to the streets to find a replacement street, there’s no quality control. People don’t a lethal amount. drug, she said. know what they’re purchasing and they’re Fentanyl analogues refer to opioids that Det.-Sgt. Ben Bair heads the drug unit for running the risk of purchasing bootleg fen- are chemically similar to fentanyl, such as the . He said for a time, tanyl without knowing,” Crowder said. carfentanil or 3-methylfentanyl. oxycodone was the go-to drug for those look- Digby said fentanyl has been a widely used Carfentanil is commonly used as an ing satisfy their opiate craving. But in an effort medication for chronic pain throughout his elephant tranquilizer and is roughly 100 times to curb the misuse of this drug, the popular entire career. But with illegal labs producing more potent than fentanyl. The analogue OxyContin pills were replaced by OxyNEO this drug in an unregulated way, it becomes 3-methylfentanyl is around three times stron- in 2012. This new version of the pill was hard for users to gauge the potency of the ger than fentanyl, Bair said. Guelph Mercury TRIBUNE • Tuesday, March 14, 2017 • PAGE 11

Addict says risk of overdose better than going through withdrawal From Page 9 pill disguised as OxyContin and a real one. His friend Kristen agrees. The Mercury Tri- “You know what it looks like, what it taste Visit bune will not be publishing her last name for like, you know what it crushes up like, how it privacy reasons. looks in the rig, you know everything about the “That’s the thing, the stronger, the better,” pill. So when something’s off about the pill, it the 19-year-old said. “You have that thought will be different and you’ll realize when you’re activities events restaurants travel more! in the back of your head that it could be deadly setting up.” and you could overdose, but at the same time Kristen said she’s made it a habit now to you’re a junkie and you don’t care. You just do inject a small amount and then wait for a bit it because you want to get high.” before injecting the rest. This is done as a last- Taking the risk with bootleg fentanyl is ditch safety measure against injecting some- better than suffering through the withdrawal thing more potent than she’s expecting. She symptoms, she said. also carries a couple of doses of naloxone with EXHIBITORS WANTED! Cunningham said with his tolerance level, her and never uses unless she’s with someone Buy both shows and SAVE 10%* * Some restrictions apply he starts to feel withdrawal quickly. If he inject- she can trust to save her life, should she need ed in the evening, he’d need to take something saving. What do you again in the morning or he’ll be feeling sick by So far, she said she hasn’t experienced this do that is unique noon. and ideal for potent form of bootleg fentanyl that everyone’s Retirees or soon to Kristen said she’s only been using opioid been warning about. All the powdered fentanyl be Retirees? drugs for around eight months and she’s she’s tried has been weak, she said, but she SEMINAR learned to tell the difference between a pressed knows the more powerful stuff is out there. SpAcEANd SpoNSoRSHIpS Vendors STILL ededfor AVAILABLE ne SING RESER TH,Hou VE HEAL E you FINANc RSp ANd AcE TRAVEL EARL AINMENT y Need a break? ENTERT Sunday May 7 and Sunday September 17, 2017 • 10am-4pm

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