A rural Nova Scotia community is searching for answers after two people died — only minutes apart — of suspected drug overdoses.
The two men died last Friday morning, and police said first responders seized a “small quantity of unknown substances in pill and powder form and drug paraphernalia” at one home.
A public meeting was held Wednesday in Springhill, N.S., to offer information on overdose prevention, and to offer support.
“We are in a crisis situation here in our town. Our numbers of overdoses may be small due to the deaths, but if you look at our population ratio, we’re losing a lot of people,” said Bertha Harrison, the co-founder of the Save our Families Association.
Harrison knows the cost of drug addiction. She lost her son to an overdose in July after a struggle with addition that lasted more than 10 years.
“When Daniel was really sick, I had to send him to Moncton (for treatment) because it was the only available area that there was for him,” she said.
“I sent him away in February and he came home in a cardboard box in July.”
The loss prompted her to form the support group, along with her brother Richard, to help others who are struggling.
“We know there’s a number of people in our community that are lacking housing and help. That’s our second objective is to help those people,” Richard Harrison said.
The Harrisons attended Tuesday’s meeting, which was hosted by Nova Scotia Health. Community members who attended shared concerns about the prevalence of drugs in the community.
“(We) just wanted to open it up to the community to get the conversation going about how to support people who are struggling with addictions and support them with harm reduction strategies and also know where they can reach out to for help,” said Janah Fair, the director of mental health and addictions for Nova Scotia Health’s Northern Zone.
Fair said one of the tools used is a naloxone kit, which has the power to save lives. The life-saving medication can reverse an overdose from opioids.
But some point out that the kits only work if they are in the hands of those who need them.
“Narcan (naloxone) doesn’t do anything good when it’s in your car, it doesn’t do any good when you keep it at home,” said Ashley Legere, the executive director of Cumberland Homelessness and Housing Support Association.
“It does the most good when it’s out in the community. It’s about trying to get these resources out to the community.”
Murray Scott, the mayor of the Municipality of Cumberland, hopes the meeting is only the start, and will prompt more people to get involved to find solutions.
“Even if you don’t think you’re affected by anyone who has an addiction or is facing what these folks are facing, come anyway, learn about it and see how you might help,” he said.
— with a file from Global News’ Rebecca Lau
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