TROIS-RIVIÈRES | Gatherings in public outdoor places, such as community parks and gardens, worry citizens in Trois-Rivières because a lot of waste related to alcohol and drug consumption is visible on the ground.
“We see small groups and I find it not” safe “! So I go around the park, ”said a resident who walked near Victoria Park on Thursday.
“We see people consuming. It’s worse than before! My child no longer has the right to go to the park, ”said the mother of the family who lives opposite.
TVA Nouvelles has visited parks, outdoor public places and green spaces. In just a few hours, alcohol-related waste like beer bottles, broken glass and cans were found. Then, other articles of a medical nature or related to drug use were discovered. We are talking about tourniquets, plastic syringe tips, used alcohol disinfectant wipes and a dozen Addipaks. These Addipaks are vials of sterile water frequently used by injecting drug users to dilute crushed tablets.
“It must be said that drug use by injection is an extremely hidden reality. Then, since there is no supervised injection site in Trois-Rivières, users must be creative in finding places to consume. Our team and our street workers must constantly travel the city, ”explained the deputy director general of the Point de rue organization, Pierre-Olivier Gravel.
The various resources note an increased popularity of the consumption of amphetamine by injection. The distribution of syringes carried out by Point de rue increased from 11,700 in 2018 to 18,741 last year.
The number of Naloxone kits donated by community pharmacies in the region has nearly doubled, from 345 in 2019 to 612 so far this year. However, the number of drug-related deaths remains stable. The authorities have around 20 a year.
For now, the contaminated drug that circulates in the streets of Montreal and which causes many deaths has not been located in Trois-Rivières. The management of the Integrated University Health and Social Services Center (CIUSSS) of Mauricie-et-du-Center-du-Québec is monitoring the situation closely. Among the action plans considered, there could be a question of the temporary installation of a supervised injection site.
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