Niagara recovery centre co-founder calls local opioid overdose surge ‘heartbreaking’

Niagara regional police are saying there has been a surge in opioid overdoses, with five suspected overdose deaths this past week alone, and according to Niagara Health, opioid overdoses have been on the rise.

Officers say these numbers are alarming, but one former addict says there is hope out there.

Chris Howe says he’s an addict in recovery, and he now runs a centre called Twelve Mile Recovery in St. Catharines.

He’s also a captain with the Niagara Falls Fire Department, and responds to drug-related calls every day.

“It’s heartbreaking, really,” said Howe. “I mean, myself, I also work with the fire department here in Niagara Falls — I see these calls, I go on these calls — and as a person in recovery myself with lived experience for about 15-and-a-half, almost 16 years now, I see myself in these people, and it’s awful.”

WATCH MORE: Hamilton’s opioid overdose calls exceed the monthly record for July: city reports

“It’s scary, I’m grateful that I’m in recovery, but I hope and wish that many more can make it to this place in their life, where they don’t have to worry about being out there buying things that they don’t know what they’re buying.”

Niagara police say opioid overdoses are on the rise.

“So we’ve seen a large increase in the amount of reported overdoses within Niagara, so within the past week we’ve had five fatal overdoses and over 38 calls for service involving an overdose,” said Niagara Regional Police Const. Jessica Martin.

Officers say those numbers are concerning.

“We often see this when there’s a supply that’s put out into the community that’s tainted, and the problem with the illegal street drugs is a lot of times, you can’t tell that there is something that could be potentially life-threatening, because there is no odour and no visible appearance of that,” said Martin.

WATCH MORE: Hamilton EMS respond to over 100 opioid-related calls for 7th straight month

According to the Region of Niagara, from January to August of this year, there have been almost 2,000 suspected opioid overdoses, that’s approximately 136 emergency medical services responses per month.

Howe says there are options for people who want help.

“Niagara has a lot,” said Howe. “Anybody who calls Twelve Mile Recovery, if they’re not a right fit for our facility, we will refer them on to other local facilities that would be able to help them, such as the RAAM (Rapid Access Addiction Medicine) Clinic or CASON (Community Addiction Services of Niagara) downtown here in St. Catharines — fantastic places that are OHIP covered and able to help more people. I wish there was more resources out there, and we’re trying to do our part in bringing more hope for the community.”

Niagara police say a good place to start if you need help with addiction, or know someone who does, is to call 2-1-1 in Niagara.

WATCH MORE: Court challenge launched against planned HART Hub in Hamilton neighbourhood