A first hand look at the opioid crisis from a recovering drug addict

There have been more opioid related deaths in Hamilton than anywhere else in the province.

Lenore Power knows first-hand just how bad it is, because she lived it for a decade. Power was a regular person, she owned her own home and her own business, but ten years ago she broke her back and was prescribed opioids. She became addicted and caught up in a downward spiral.

“I was spending $500-$700 a day on my habit.”

To keep up she started dealing. She overdosed and would have died if it wasn’t for the free Naloxone kits, but that didn’t stop her.

“I was pretty much walking around like I was invincible.”

It took her being arrested with drugs on her while she was with her daughter to realize she had hit rock bottom. She sought treatment at the St. Joe’s Womankind addictions program and has now been clean for over a year. As someone who has lived it, she says Hamilton has a serious problem and one that is not going away. Frontline workers say there’s been a disturbing increase in overdose calls.

A mix of fentanyl and heroine nicknamed “popcorn” because it looks and tastes like popcorn has become a problem with Hamilton youth. We’ve been told at least half a dozen have died from fentanyl use this summer. The city tracks the number of opioid deaths. The most recent stats available show there were 24 opioid overdose deaths in Hamilton in the first half of last year alone.

We’ll take a closer look at the number of people who have died from opioid overdoses in Hamilton and what the city is doing about it tomorrow on the Evening News at 6