As the number of opioid overdoses in Grey Bruce continues to climb, Provincial Police are urging people to call 911 if they suspect an overdose.
Police say you could help save a life and on International Overdose Awareness day, (August 31) they are reminding people of the Good Samaritan Drug Overdose Act.
They note, some people who may be present during an overdose might hesitate to call 911 for fear of police involvement.
OPP say the Act provides protection against charges for possessing drugs for your own use and violating conditions of your parole, bail, probation or conditional sentence for a simple drug possession charge.
Police say in the last three years there has been an 81 per cent increase in suspected opioid occurrences in OPP jurisdiction alone.
OPP say since September 2017, their officers have saved 170 lives by administering Naloxone to overdose victims. That doesn’t account for all the other first responders who may have used it on someone or any bystanders who may have done the same.
Police say in 2019, 3,823 lives were lost in Canada due to opioid related overdoses. Police say in the same year, there were more than 21,000 suspected opioid related overdoses nationwide.
Meanwhile, Public Health Grey Bruce says locally, 2019 was the worst year for overdose deaths so far with 16 opioid overdose deaths. They say that surpasses the previously most challenging year of 2017, which saw 11 overdose fatalities. They say 2020 is shaping up to be another challenging year with nine (unconfirmed) fatal overdoses so far in 2020.
Earlier this month on the Civic Holiday Long weekend, public health says there were four non-fatal overdoses.
Public Health Harm Reduction Manager Ian Reich said in a statement earlier this month, “We must always remember that this illness can afflict anyone, at any time, and we need to make sure that the general population understands that addiction does not care who you are – it can affect anyone at any time.”
The Health Unit is sharing a series of real-life stories about addiction and recovery here:
https://www.publichealthgreybruce.on.ca/Your-Health/Harm-Reduction/Our-Journeys