Simcoe Muskoka opioid crisis trending in wrong direction: SMDHU
Andrea Robillard knows firsthand how severely opioids can impact one's life after having overdosed many times herself.
Robillard admits she struggled with addiction at an early age.
"I lost everything from my career, my house. My husband passed away from addiction. So to me, it's a very personal experience," she says. "I even planned out how I wanted to commit suicide."
After a family intervention and months of treatment, she was able to turn her life around and started working at an addiction centre to help others.
"I started volunteering, helping with the counsellors, to helping with housekeeping, and doing intervention because obviously someone who's gone through it, it's easier to relate and give that family support."
Robillard now works full-time as an intervention coordinator at 1000 Islands Addictions Treatment Centre and has helped dozens of people.
Unfortunately, not everyone is so lucky.
The local health unit says the trend in the region is headed in the wrong direction.
"There were 169 opioid-related deaths in Simcoe Muskoka in 2021, and that was 25 per cent higher than the 135 that we had in 2020," says Cathy Eisner, Simcoe Muskoka's Substance Use Injury Prevention Program public health nurse.
Eisner says the pandemic is primarily to blame for the rise in deaths and that no communities are left untouched.
"We're seeing loss of life in all of our communities across Simcoe Muskoka. Although some communities may be more impacted than others, it's not something only is affecting one area," she adds.
The Simcoe County branch of the Canadian Mental Health Association put in an application last fall to build a Safe Consumption Site in Barrie.
"That would provide a great service to Barrie where people would be able to bring their substances and use them under the supervision of harm reduction workers," Eisner says.
The city is still waiting for a decision by Health Canada and the Ministry of Health.
Eisner says other work is also being considered, including looking at safer supply options, reaching people through a mobile service and increasing access to opioid therapies.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Grandparent scam: London, Ont., senior beats fraudsters not once, but twice
It was a typical Tuesday for Mabel Beharrell, 84, until she got the call that would turn her world upside down. Her teenaged grandson was in trouble and needed her help.
Deaths of 4 people on Sask. farm confirmed as murder-suicide
The deaths of four people on a farm near the Saskatchewan village of Neudorf have been confirmed a murder-suicide.
CRA no longer requiring 'bare trust' reporting in 2023 tax return
The Canada Revenue Agency announced Thursday it will not require 'bare trust' reporting from Canadians that it introduced for the 2024 tax season, just four days before the April 2 deadline.
Full parole granted to man convicted in notorious 'McDonald's murders' in Cape Breton
The Parole Board of Canada has granted full parole to one of three men convicted in the brutal murders of three McDonald's restaurant workers in Cape Breton more than 30 years ago.
Incident on Calgary's Reconciliation Bridge comes to safe resolution
Nearly 20 hours after a man climbed and remained perched on top of the Reconciliation Bridge in downtown Calgary, the situation came to a peaceful resolution.
Sunshine list: These were the Ontario public sector's highest earners in 2023
Ontario released its annual sunshine list Thursday afternoon, noting that the largest year-over-year increases were in hospitals, municipalities, and post-secondary sectors.
George Washington family secrets revealed by DNA from unmarked 19th century graves
Genetic analysis has shed light on a long-standing mystery surrounding the fates of U.S. President George Washington's younger brother Samuel and his kin.
'We won't forget': How some Muslims view Poilievre's stance on Israel-Hamas war
A spokesman for a regional Muslim advocacy group says Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre's stance on the Israel-Hamas war could complicate his party's relationship with Muslim Canadians.
Why some Christians are angry about Trump's 'God Bless the USA' Bible
Former U.S. President Donald Trump is officially selling a copy of the Bible themed to Lee Greenwood’s famous song, 'God Bless the USA.' But the concept of a Bible covered in the American flag has raised concern among religious circles.