April 4, 2023 at 10:33 am
Greybruce Public Health (GBPH) is alerting the public to the toxicity of multiple weekend overdoses from the local unregulated drug supply.
A total of 14 people overdosed from March 31 to April 2, the health department said. One was fatal, 10 of which occurred in Owen Sound.
“We are deeply concerned by the high number of drug poisonings that occurred over the weekend,” said Dr. Rim Zayed, GBPH’s consultant physician. “It’s a drug toxicity problem where people are taking drugs that are unknowingly cut off or mixed with fentanyl or other toxic substances.”
All unregulated street drugs should be considered highly poisonous and potentially deadly, Zayed said.
GBPH continues its outreach work as it attempts to identify risk factors. The goal of these efforts, they said, is to educate drug users and their loved ones about strategies to reduce toxicity and harm.