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13 | O akville B eaver | T hursday,M arch 17,2022 insidehalton.com in the COVID-19 pandemic. "It's absolutely crisis level -- capital C on crisis. That's certainly not an overstatement," said Jenni- fer Hartman, Halton Re- gional Police Service's manager of corporate com- munications. "Everything you hear about across the country and province is reflected here locally. I think there's a lot of misconceptions that somehow Halton has better protective factors against the impacts of overdoses, and that's just not the case. We're a highly educated, very affluent community, but that is not enough to in- sulate us." She said the HRPS drug and human trafficking unit "continues to disrupt the flow of illicit drugs throughout and within our region," including the larg- est drug seizure in the his- tory of the local force last August. Earlier in 2021, police al- so concluded a seven- month investigation dubbed Project Lynx, which centred around a so- phisticated drug traffick- ing network police say was responsible for supplying cocaine and fentanyl throughout the Greater To- ronto Area, including Hal- ton. One of the individuals arrested was sentenced in January to 13 years and 222 days for possession for the purpose of trafficking fen- tanyl, along with a 10-year concurrent sentence on two counts of possession for the purpose of traffick- ing cocaine. HRPS Deputy Chief of Regional Operations Jeff Hill said this sentencing "sends a strong message that those who put some of our most vulnerable com- munity members at risk will be held accountable." "This type of activity will never be tolerated in our community and our members will remain re- lentless in battling the on- going opioid crisis and bringing those involved in trafficking to prosecution." While the reasons be- hind drug use are always complex, including past trauma and mental health, Hartman said the pandem- ic has "absolutely devastat- ed" an already bad situa- tion, with more people us- ing drugs alone, thereby in- creasing their chances of dying due to an overdose. The year-to-date num- bers for overdoses are "much worse" than in 2021, said Hartman, with police responding to 73 suspected drug poisonings in Janu- ary and February alone, 11 of which were fatal. "We're seeing a signifi- cant upwards trend in the number of suspected over- doses that our officers are attending," she said. Of those calls police re- sponded to in 2021, at least a third of them were known to involve the powerful opioid fentanyl, explained Hartman, while non-opioid calls can be related to sub- stances such as metham- phetamine, prescription drugs, etc. "A lot of overdoses are accidental because they consumed something that was cut with fentanyl and they just didn't know, and they don't necessarily have naloxone on hand," said Hartman. With fentanyl being the substance most likely to cause death in an overdose situation, Halton police have been carrying nalox- one, which reverses or blocks the effects of opioids, since 2016 when it was first deployed to spe- cialized units. By 2018, nal- oxone was provided to ev- ery frontline officer as the number of overdoses local- ly continued to rise. Police reported a 52 per cent increase between 2020 and 2021 in naloxone being administered by officers. On a positive note, Hart- man said there's also been a huge increase in the num- ber of bystanders interven- ing in overdose situations with naloxone. Police docu- mented 65 such occurrenc- es in 2021. "If that hadn't happened, we would have had well in excess of 100 fatalities last year," she said. "We contin- ue to encourage members of the community to carry naloxone if they or some- one they know uses drugs. It's easy to access and easy to use." The devastating impact fentanyl has on addicts and their loved ones is felt by many in the community, like Kathleen and Steve Boose. Their youngest son has been dealing with his ad- diction for many years while also being in and out of jail -- a vicious cycle that's so hard to break. His plight, which has threatened to tear the fami- ly apart, was the inspira- tion behind the couple's 2019 support workshop geared to family and friends of addicts. From there, they started a local Nar-Anon group that meets weekly in Georgetown, both in person and online. "It (the meetings) has been a lifesaver for us as well," said Kathleen. "It's a heartbreaking spot to be in, to have a loved one addicted to opiates." The local mom also be- longs to a group called Mothers Stop the Harm, which she said is pushing for the decriminalization of personal drug quantities to make it easier for an addict to reach out for help. According to Hartman, helping those with addic- tions is also the goal of Hal- ton police. While officers have at- tended over 600 suspected drug overdoses in the past two years, she said no sim- ple possession charges were laid at any of those calls. "It's just not what we're there for. We want people to call 911 because our officers carry naloxone," she said. "All we want to do is save a life, that is it." Police encourage those who use drugs to never do so alone, but if they do, to download the Brave app, which connects those at risk of an overdose with the help they need. Local resi- dents are also urged to con- tact emergency services if they see someone in dis- tress from a potential over- dose, with the Good Samar- itans Act offering broad protections for those who make the call. "The Halton Regional Police Service remains committed to taking a harm reduction approach to this crisis, knowing that every overdose is prevent- able," said Hartman. She noted that police al- so want to keep the conver- sation going on the topic to help remove the stigma around drugs and drug use. "We want everyone to support people who use drugs -- that's actually what they need," she said. "Every life saved is an op- portunity for recovery in the future." The sentiment was ech- oed by Steve Boose. "There are a lot of people out there who think they (addicts) are bad -- that they're evil. But it's a much greyer situation," he said. They're all somebody's child, they're all some- body's loved one. They've lost their way, but there are those who want them back." STORY BEHIND THE STORY: With the pandemic only making the overdose crisis worse across the country, we wanted to take a closer look at the current situation in Halton and what's being done to ad- dress the serious issue. NEWS Continued from page 1 The use of naloxone has been a big help in preventing fatal outcomes when it comes to opioid overdoses. Metroland file photo PANDEMIC MADE BAD SITUATION WORSE: POLICE "It's a heartbreaking spot to be in, to have a loved one addicted to opiates." - Kathleen Boose HALTON SUPPORT PROGRAMS • Support House: 1-833-845-WELL (9355), supporthouse.ca • Halton ADAPT: 1-855-211-0898, haltonadapt.org • Local Nar-Anon groups: naranonontario.com • One-Link: 1-844-216-7411, one-link.ca • Crisis Outreach and Support Team (COAST): 1-877-825-9011 • Distress Centre Halton: Oakville -- 905-849-4541, Burlington -- 905-681-1488, Halton Hills -- 905-877-1211. • Brave app: brave.coop/besafe SCAN THIS CODE for more local news.