Saskatoon drug crisis like 'nothing we've ever seen before' puts lives at risk daily: Prairie Harm Reduction

The alarm bells successful Saskatoon haven't stopped ringing, arsenic the metropolis continues to grapple with a cause overdose situation that's jeopardizing lives each day. 

On Tuesday, the Saskatoon Fire Department reported that it has responded to 935 overdose incidents oregon suspected opioid poisonings since the commencement of this year. 

The section responded to 376 incidents implicit the aforesaid clip play past twelvemonth — little than fractional of what's been reported this year.

Halfway done April, this year's numbers are already approaching the total of 1,282 calls successful each of 2024.

The occurrence section cautions that the fig of radical getting assistance mightiness really beryllium higher, due to the fact that the numbers bash not relationship for however galore patients are progressive astatine each call.

Kayla DeMong, the enforcement manager of Prairie Harm Reduction, says the situation is unprecedented. 

"This is thing we've ever seen before. It doesn't look to beryllium going away. Things person plateaued, which doesn't mean they're getting better."

Prairie Harm Reduction — Saskatoon's lone supervised depletion tract — tests drugs for creation and toxicity, and the city has been "completely saturated" by a toxic cause supply, said DeMong.

Last month, the site temporarily paused its operations to springiness its unit a accidental to retrieve from the trauma of dealing with the overdose situation head-on. The centre has reopened, but DeMong says the request for assistance continues.

"We were seeing days wherever each the unit did was revive radical their full shifts, and days wherever it was 4 radical astatine a time, six radical astatine a time," she said. 

This month, the fire section said it had responded to 119 overdose incidents oregon suspected opioid poisonings arsenic of Tuesday, much than treble the 53 calls successful April 2024. 

During a period of conscionable implicit 2 weeks past month, the section responded to 1 overdose call in the city every hour, connected average.

According to the Saskatchewan Coroners Service, determination were 16 confirmed and 76 suspected cause toxicity deaths successful the state successful the archetypal 3 months of this year, including 7 successful Saskatoon.

'So galore radical dying': advocate

David Fineday, an advocate for stateless radical who is primitively from Sweetgrass First Nation, leads smudging and drum circles successful Saskatoon.

He says the radical helium helps person analyzable needs. The bulk are Indigenous and galore are surviving with trauma, including survivors of residential schools and the Sixties Scoop.

"It truly upsets maine for radical to conscionable disregard worldly similar that erstwhile there's truthful galore radical dying," helium said.

"I cognize yet everybody has to go, but not similar the mode that they're letting them go. Overdoses, freezing — that doesn't person to hap successful 2025."

Last month, Saskatoon Mayor Cynthia Block pointed to a semipermanent solution: housing. City assembly has approved 256 affordable lodging units successful the past six months, astir 70 per cent of which person wraparound supports, she said.

Council has besides approved a survey for a navigational hub, meant to beryllium a one-stop store to assistance radical experiencing homelessness with services, said Block.

On March 12, the Saskatchewan authorities said it would activate its provincial exigency operations centre, led by the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency, successful effect to what it termed the "toxic cause crisis" successful Saskatoon.

The state has besides promised further archetypal responder unit and naloxone kits, but front-line workers accidental much societal services and lodging are desperately needed to get radical disconnected the streets and into recovery.

WATCH | 5 minutes into our walk-along with Saskatoon police, we witnessed an overdose:

Earlier this week, the provincial authorities introduced authorities that would see fentanyl, methamphetamine and hypodermic needles categorized arsenic thoroughfare weapons. 

Amendments to The Safe Public Spaces Act are expected to beryllium passed successful the legislature this outpouring and travel into unit during the summer, according to a quality merchandise by the state Tuesday.

Justice Minister Tim McLeod called it a "pivotal step" to ensuring nationalist places are "free from intimidation [and] violence caused by thoroughfare weapons and illicit drugs."

With cause use spilling into Saskatoon libraries, two branches shut their doors to summation information past month, with a plan to reopen adjacent week with beefed up security. 

But DeMong says moving radical astir or policies categorizing drugs arsenic thoroughfare weapons will not code sustained underlying problems.

Both she and Fineday accidental it is cardinal to invest in housing, wellness care, intelligence wellness care, assemblage centres and education.

"Imagine what we could bash if we were spending the wealth connected these services that are preventative and tin intervene successful what we're seeing," said DeMong.

"All the wealth we would person — to enactment into different things alternatively than overspending connected ineffective policies and discriminatory practices that are further criminalizing radical successful our province."