Blenheim Cluster of the Chatham Kent Drug Awareness Council

Nasal spray Naloxone kits will be available in Chatham-Kent as of Monday, March 20th for FREE with NO HEALTH CARD REQUIRED at the Chatham-Kent Public Health Uni...t, located at 177 King Street East (WISH Centre). It is recommended that you pick up a kit if you have opioid medications in your home (e.g. Fentanyl, Morphine, Dilaudid/Hydromorphone, etc.) in the event of an accidental overdose where a loved one may have forgotten they have already taken their medications and takes too many or we also know that teenagers in particular also try experimenting with drugs they are not familiar with that they find in their parent's or grandparent's medicine cabinets. It is highly recommended that you pick up a Naloxone kit if you yourself or if people around you are using non-prescribed opiates or street-grade opiates (e.g. heroin). Naloxone kits do not replace the need for medical assistance as Naloxone only TEMPORARILY reverses an opiate-related overdose to buy you time for EMS to arrive. It is very important that if you believe someone is experiencing an opioid-related overdose that you call 9-1-1. Opiate-related overdoses reported in 2017 in Ontario have spiked in part due to street-grade drugs in particular that have been tampered with, so individuals are being sold what they believe to be heroin or percocets, that are actually a combination of drugs that may include fentanyl or carfentanil (a drug used to tranquilize elephants). You can't see the fentanyl or carfentanil, taste it, smell it or feel it and the dose the size of a grain of salt is enough to overdose a human. The only sign that is sometimes present, but not always, is that contaminated heroin may have a slightly pinkish tinge to it and counterfeit pills may have a blue-green speckled type of tinge to it. For overdoses from these contaminated drugs, first-responders have reporting having to use up to 8-10 doses of Naloxone to bring the person out of the overdose - with one case in Peterborough being reported that a 48-hour Naloxone drip was required to keep the patient from reverting back into an overdose state. For this reason, it is important that 9-1-1 is always called in these situations as the free Naloxone kits only have 2 doses each - which is enough to buy time for EMS to arrive. As a reminder, the injectable form of Naloxone is available at all Shoppers Drug Marts in Chatham-Kent for FREE when you present a valid health card. Kits are available at all pharmacies in Chatham-Kent that currently dispense methadone or suboxone. For a full listing, please see the post pinned to the top of our Facebook page.

Mark your calendars!! December 1 on CBC, this new documentary 'Unstoppable: The Fentanyl Epidemic', could be very interesting. An inside look at the business of drugs and uncovering the science behind the opiate crisis. http://www.cbc.ca//fentanyl-beeker-underground-producer-1.

How does the deadly drug fentanyl affect your brain? We explain: www.cbc.ca/1.3864676

Reports of heroin use are on the rise in Chatham-Kent. There are increasing reports of heroin being laced with carfentanil, an opiate drug used to tranquilize e...lephants. Fentanyl, especially in the powered form has also been reported by clients to front-line addiction workers to now be available on the street in Chatham-Kent. The presence of powdered fentanyl has yet to be confirmed by authorities. We know that in Canada, drug trends spread from the West to the East and we've already begun to see increased opiate overdoses and deaths in Ontario. Addiction experts are expecting these numbers to continue to climb which is part of the reason why the MOHLTC has made Naloxone kits that can help to reverse an overdose and save lives available FREE of charge at local pharmacies with a valid OHIP card. Please call your local pharmacy or send us a message or comment below for more information. Opiates are drugs with morphine-like effects that are derived from opium that are medically prescribed to induce sleep or relieve pain. Some examples of pharmaceutical and street drugs in this class are: heroin, fentanyl, morphine, hydromorphone (hydromorphs), dilaudid, etc. http://www.cbc.ca//on-the-front-lines-of-canada-s-opioid-c

The theme for National Addictions Awareness Week 2016 is #Addiction matters #NAAW http://ow.ly/FAwI3065Cj1

For National Addictions Awareness Week, we’re sharing facts and figures on addiction and problematic substance use in Canada today.

The Ontario Drug Policy Research Network recently released its report on Opioid Use and Related Adverse Events in Ontario which indicated that there have been 2...0 opioid-related deaths in Chatham-Kent over the past 5 years alone. While the report has limitations in data (e.g. only able to track publicly funded opioid perscritption data, excluding those covered under private insurance), this report provides some great insight into this ever growing problem. http://odprn.ca//ODPRN-Opioid-Use-and-Related-Adverse-Even (Page 24 of this report is the report card for Chatham-Kent that is featured as the picture of this post) CKDAC would like to remind folks that Naloxone - a drug used to reverse an opiate overdose - is avaiable at all Shoppers Drug Mart's in Chatham-Kent without a perscription for FREE - all you need is your health card. This is available to anyone that is currently using opiates (perscribed or street use) as well as to anyone who may be around those individuals (spouse, sibiling, parent, friend, etc.). There are other pharmacies this is available at as well that are pinned to the first post on our facebook page. If you are living with an opiate addiction and are looking for help, please call 2-1-1 or visit our list of local community resources found here: http://www.ckdac.ca/about1 If you have any questions, please feel free to send us a message or post a comment below and we'll be happy to answer or to arrange a time to call you for a chat!

Check out the CK Community Health Centres Novemeber programming!

Flu Shot Clinics

Christmas Hamper information

Front-line addiction workers in our community have yet not heard reports of liquid fentanyl being available on the streets in Chatham-Kent, however, we know the... patches and pill and powder forms are very much here and are very dangerous. As you will hear in the video, it only takes a dose the size of a grain of salt to be lethal. As a reminder, you are now able to visit 14 pharmacies in Chatham-Kent with your OHIP card and pick up a free Naloxone kit which will help to temporarily reverse an opiate overdose to reduce the risk of brain damage or death and buy you time to get to a hospital. The listing of pharmacies is pinned as the first post you will see when you visit our Facebook page. http://www.citynews.ca//video-discovery-of-liquid-fentan/

On November 15th the Chatham-Kent Drug Awareness Council is hosting a Recovery Breakfast. Come and listen as Pat Ladouceur courageously shares his journey from addiction to recovery. Tickets are available for purchase online at www.cktickets.com.

Overdoses are happening in Ontario at an ever increasing rate. Naloxone is available in our community. Send us a message if you would like to find out where to go so you can pick up this life saving medicine if you yourself are an opiate user or a concerned friend or family member of an opiate user. Congratulations to this courageous man on acting fast to save a life! http://www.cbc.ca//windsor/naxolone-overdose-save-1.3762588