'Don't use alone': Warning issued over toxic drugs in Thunder Bay

Community organizations have issued a warning about toxic drugs in Thunder Bay following an increase in overdoses.

The warning was issued by the Thunder Bay Drug Strategy and Thunder Bay District Health Unit on Wednesday.

Drug strategy coordinator Cynthia Olsen said a number of overdoses were reported to have occurred last weekend.

"Purple down is what's really been implicated," she said. "Several doses of naloxone and CPR support, were required."

"What that's telling us is that there is a pretty toxic supply right now," Olsen said. "And we certainly want to encourage community individuals who use substances, and other community members, to have naloxone on-hand and know where they are and to call 911 in the event that they do see an overdose or experience an overdose."

Olsen said she hasn't received any indication that any of the overdoses were fatal.

"There's all kinds of risk associated with using substances, especially if there is a … different supply in the city that you might not be used to," said Juanita Lawson, CEO of NorWest Community Health Centres. "People might even use a substance thinking that they know what's in it, but potentially [the drug has been] tainted with other substances."

Lawson said another concern with the recent overdoses is while usually, it takes one or two doses of naloxone to reverse the effects, in these cases, it was taking five or six doses.

Lawson said there are steps people can take to keep increase safety when using drugs.

"Our message is don't use alone," she said.

Lawson also encouraged people to make use of Path 525, a safe injection site run by NorWest, which can provide help and support in the case of an overdose. Similar programs are available in other regional municipalities, including Marathon and Kenora, she said.

Olsen said another option is to use the Lifeguard mobile app, which recently launched, and is available in several regions of the northwest, including Thunder Bay.

"The goal of the app is to support individuals who do use drugs to have a kind of like a lifeline," she said. "It's directly connected to emergency services, if the user doesn't stop a timer and respond to an alarm."

"But it's also very valuable for community members and family members to download this app," Olsen said. "There are lots of resources on the app itself."

"It would know where you are and can pop up various types of services within your geographical area."