Pubdate: Wed, 20 Aug 2014
Source: Standard, The (St. Catharines, CN ON)
Copyright: 2014 St. Catharines Standard
Contact: http://www.stcatharinesstandard.ca/letters
Website: http://www.stcatharinesstandard.ca/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/676
Author: Grant LaFleche
Page: A1
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?132 (Heroin Overdose)

LETHAL HEROIN REACHES ST. CATHARINES

But Tracking Trends Is Difficult for Officials

Those with an eye on the Garden City's drug subculture are hoping 
potentially lethal doses of heroin on the streets are gone for good.

The unusual supply of heroin may be responsible for a rash of 
overdoses among city users, said Glenn Walker, executive director of 
AIDS Niagara, which operates the Streetworks harm reduction program 
and needle exchange.

In late July and into early August, users were reporting the drug was 
oddly powerful, even to those who frequently use heroin, Walker said.

"It was catching these long-term users off guard," he said. "Now, in 
the last week or so, we have not had any reports. Our guess is that 
either it has so frightened heroin users they have moved on to 
another drug or the supply has just run out. Obviously, for safety 
sake, we are hoping it is the latter."

Last week, Hamilton police and public health authorities warned that 
unusual doses of the drug were on that city's streets, although they 
had been unable to seize any samples.

Hamilton police had previously issued a warning after a spate of 
overdoses in late July.

Niagara Regional Police reported Tuesday they had no information 
about this batch of heroin having arrived in Niagara.

The story at AIDS Niagara, however, is different. Walker said 
recently there has been a crush of requests from users to be trained 
to use the overdose kits the program supplies. The kits contain 
Naxolone, a chemical that can stop a drug overdose in its tracks.

Walker said the jump in demand was driven by an powerful supply of 
heroin that had users scared.

"The theories are that it is either heroin that has been tainted with 
something else, or it is just an unusually potent supply of heroin 
being sold," he said. "But we cannot know for sure."

Nor can Walker be sure exactly how many users have overdosed on the 
drug, or even if it has killed anyone. Most of the information coming 
to the AIDS Niagara office is word of mouth.

All he can say for certain is that reports of overdoses and demand 
for the Naxolone kits has fallen sharply in recent days.

Dr. Jessica Hopkins, an associate medical officer of health at 
Niagara's public health department, said tracking these kinds of 
trends is extremely problematic.

Local hospitals do track the number of overdoses, she said, but it is 
hard to know if that is the result of a tainted street drug supply. 
If police are not called by users, then drug investigators may not 
know of the problem. And while public health works closely with AIDS 
Niagara and Streetworks, overdoses are not reportable incidents to 
the department.

"It can be frustrating when you cannot get the complete picture," Hopkins said.

Nevertheless, that doesn't mean the health department is helpless. 
Hopkins said a drug outreach program run the department sexual health 
clinics, can put users in contact with AIDS Niagara and other 
services in a bid to reduce harm and, ultimately, assist people in 
getting off drugs.

Walker said although the information about the heroin is somewhat 
murky, it does reinforce the unpredictable nature of using street 
drugs, and the fact that a user can never be sure what they are buying.

The public health outreach program can be reached at 289-241-4231.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom