Community drug warning remains in place as overdoses, drug deaths rise in Waterloo Region

Waterloo Region is experiencing an increase in reported overdoses, drug poisonings and suspected deaths.

The Waterloo Region Integrated Drugs Strategy (WRIDS) says since May 23, there have been 85 overdoses or drug poisonings and six suspected drug-related deaths.

The group issued an alert on May 28 but has extended the warning as the numbers continue to climb.

“The reason why we call it drug poisoning is because it’s a poisoned drug supply,” explained WRIDS chair Cameron Dearlove.

“As product comes into the community, people will buy it. Unfortunately when it’s laced or cut with chemicals beyond fentanyl – of course everybody knows about fentanyl and just how powerful that is – but when you take fentanyl and then add things like benzodiazepines and xylazine and synthetic opioids, it’s really disastrous,” Dearlove said.

Drug data is collected by the Drug Checking Program at the Kitchener Consumption and Treatment Services (CTS) site, which uses a machine to quickly analyze the ingredients in street drugs.

“It can know what the product is and figure out what’s actually in that chemical. So it doesn’t mean that it’s necessarily safe to use, but at least it provides some information to people because when you’re buying on the street, they have typically no idea what it is that might be included and it might have something that brings a much higher risk of drug poisoning,” Dearlove said.

Leigh Wardlaw, the drug checking lead with Sanguen Health Centre at the CTS site, said in addition to blended drugs, they’ve also been detecting a more pure form of fentanyl circulating over the past few weeks which can lead to overdoses.

“For the longest time you would see fentanyl, but you would see a very low amount of fentanyl in that drug and that’s why they use these other drugs in there to sort of mimic the effects of fentanyl,” she explained. “Everybody’s got different tolerance. Fentanyl looks different on everybody so, yes, for the longest time just because there was such low amounts of fentanyl in there and now there’s such high amounts in there. I mean we just never know what we’re going to get when we test a drug.”

Wardlaw said when drug alerts go out, the centre does see an increase in people coming in to test their drugs.

“[The testing machine] has become a relied-on service,” she said. “It’s giving a lot of power back to those folks that do rely on using drugs, or just use it recreationally.”

Dearlove, meanwhile, wants users to be aware of the Good Samaritan Drug Overdose Act, which provides legal protection for people who experience or witness an overdose and call 911.

“It’s an important thing for people to know that there should be no fear to call 911 and it’s really important that people do,” he explained.

Dearlove also said it’s important for people to refrain from using drugs alone.

“The majority of people who do die from drug poisonings are often using alone and that’s why it’s important to either use something like the CTS in Kitchener or to make sure that you have kind of a buddy system,” he said.

He added naloxone kits can be picked up for free around the region, which helps reverse the effects of an opioid overdose.