'Help us': Cluster of overdoses prompts call for help by Grande Prairie outreach groups

Two words, spray-painted in the grass: Help us.

Jared Gossen said he discovered the message Wednesday, following the third overdose in 24 hours near the homeless drop-in shelter he founded four years ago in Grande Prairie.

"We're doing so much, but we know that there's glaring gaps in how people who use drugs are being supported in Grande Prairie," Gossen told CBCNews Thursday.

"There's still so much more to do and that was evident in the spray paint ...All of those emotions and feelings just kind of came crashing down when I saw that in the grass."

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The two men and one woman who overdosed Wednesday survived, Gossen said.

All three recovered after receiving injections ofnaloxone, alife-saving drug that can temporarily reverse the effects of anopioidoverdose.

Gossen shared a picture of the spray-painted cry for help on Facebook and said he hopes it spurs action in the community.

"Don't ask'Why the drug use?' " he said in the post. "Ask 'Why the pain?' "

Specifically, Gossen said he wants the city to focus on treatment centres andaffordable housing options for people who struggle with addiction.

"There needs to be more help for people ... There needs to be so much more of it," he said.

"Through conversations we've been having in the community, I feel like for the first time Grande Prairie is able to forget about worrying about a moral judgment on drug-usingbehaviour."

Grande Prairie RCMPspokesperson Const. Melanie McIntosh confirmed officers responded to three reports of overdoses in the city on Wednesday.

McIntoshsaidthere is no way of knowing what type of drugs were involved withouttesting the people who overdosed.

Uncontrolled substances can be contaminated with traces of dangerousdrugs such as fentanyl and carfentanil, she added.

"The conditions under which these illegal drugs are processed are not controlled,"McIntoshsaid. "These products can lead to serious injury and in some cases death."

She encouraged peopleregardless of whether or not they use drugs to familiarize themselves with the signs of an overdose, such as unresponsiveness, gurgling, trouble breathing and blue nails or lips.

"If you are in the presence of someone you feel is suffering from an overdose, please call 911 immediately."

Naloxone'going out like candy'

The recentspike in overdoses demonstrates the need for a supervised drug consumption site in the city, said Melissa Byers, executive director of HIV North in Grande Prairie.

"It does definitely make me wish that we had a site up and operational probably ayear ago," Byers said.

Her non-profit outreach group has applied for federal permission to open a mobile site for supervised drug use by the end of 2018.

• Grande Prairie group applying to open supervised drug consumption site
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Thesuddenjumpin overdoses does not necessarily reflect an increase in drug use,Byerssaid. Sometimes, "bad batches" ofdangerouslypotentdrugs can circulate in a community and triggerclusters of overdoses.

Offering users a safe, sterile and supervised place to take their drugswould allow outreach workers to respond quickly to any overdoses, Byers said.

HIV North hands out free naloxone kits at overdose hot spots in Grande Prairie, including St. Lawrence Centre.

Byerssaid the kits are "going out like candy," but added it isn'tenough to stop what she described as a growing crisis.

• HIV North'snaloxoneblitzes deliver on vow to save lives in Grande Prairie

"We have a lot ofBand-Aidsolutions that are working and they're keeping people alive but it's not enough because it keeps happening," she said."We're just continually spinningour wheels and we don't know how to help.

"It's really difficult because the drug crisis that we're seeing, it's just basically like if we get traction one day the traction's gone the next."

'Absolutely OK to ask for help'

Alberta Health Services offers numerous addiction-relatedresources, including treatment options unique to Grande Prairie such as the Opioid Dependency Program and the Northern Addictions Centre.

"It's important for those who are struggling with addiction to know that it's absolutely OK to ask for help," said Stacy Greening, senior operating officer of addiction and mental health for northern Alberta.

The services are not exclusive to opioidaddiction, Greening said.

"While there's been a lot of focus on opioidslately, that doesn't mean that the use of other drugs including crystal methamphetamine is declining," Greening said.

"Addiction is complicated and it can affect everyone in a family or close community and can affect individuals for the rest of their life."

She encouraged anyonetrying to overcome an addiction to call Healthlink, a free provincial line for non-emergency health advice from a registered nurse.

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