Montreal transit authority responding to more overdoses in Metro stations
CBC
Outside Lionel-Groulx Metro station in Montreal's Sud-Ouest borough, Osyris Jackson rattles off a list of people he knows in the city who have died of overdoses, with a sense of resignation.
"I've seen people die so many times. It doesn't affect you anymore," he said. "But when you sleep though, it hits you back in your head though."
While he tries to be careful about who he buys from, Jackson confirms what many harm reduction organizations have been warning: the supply of street drugs in the city, awash with fentanyl, is potent and unpredictable.
Another change he's seen: more people using these drugs in some Metro stations.
"It never used to happen, like, when I was growing up," he said "Now it's out of control."
Amid increasing worries from Montreal community organizations about the impact of fentanyl, new figures from the Société de transport de Montréal (STM) show that authorities in the city's Metro stations are responding to an increase in overdoses.
As of March 1 last year, the STM's special constables began carrying the drug naloxone, which helps reverse the effects of an opioid overdose. From March 1 to Dec. 31, 2022, they administered it 10 times.
Already, in the first three months of this year, they have used it 15 times.
"It's no secret: it's incredibly flagrant inside our network," said William Barrow, STM special constable, regarding drug use in the Metro.
Barrow, who has worked for the transit agency since 2021, has not had to administer naloxone himself but says several of his colleagues have.
"There definitely is a feeling of change since the pandemic has happened," Barrow said. "It's brought in new challenges."
Paramedics with Urgences-Santé also administered naloxone in and around Metro stations 12 times in 2020, 54 times in 2021 and 31 times last year — the same year STM constables also started carrying the drug.
Neither the STM or Urgences-Santé could provide statistics on overdose deaths in Metro stations.
On the ground in the Metro, others are trying to head off overdoses too.
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