Regina non-profit launching anti-fentanyl campaign to try to save youth in North Central
CBC
A grassroots organization in Regina is launching an anti-fentanyl educational campaign in the city's North Central neighbourhood, in an attempt to protect youth from dying.
Women of the Dawn Inc., a non-profit that offers counselling services among other things, is paying out of pocket for two billboards — one near Fourth Avenue and Albert Street and another close to SARCAN Recycling, near Ninth Avenue and Albert Street.
"Nobody's educating our children in the neighbourhood. Nobody seems to want to say anything about the opioid crisis," executive director Ivy Kennedy told reporters Wednesday.
"We have to do something now."
The opioid crisis has been ongoing for years in Canada, but data shows the situation has progressively been getting worse in Saskatchewan — especially since the COVID-19 pandemic started in 2020.
The Saskatchewan Coroners Service has reported 186 confirmed or suspected overdose deaths throughout the province this year as of April 30, data shows.
Regina has not been immune to the trend, police data shows, but 2023 in particular is on pace to be a deadly year.
The Regina Police Service (RPS) reported 55 apparent overdose deaths as of April 30 — the most within the first four months of a year since at least 2018, publicly available data shows.
CBC News has sought comment from the RPS about what may be contributing to more people dying so far this year.
Kennedy said she has recently mourned three relatives due to fentanyl.
Her granddaughter, a 28-year-old mother of five, died about a year and a half ago, she said. Her nephew, 40, was experiencing homelessness and froze to death in December with fentanyl in his system. Then her grandson, 27, died in January after taking a Xanax pill that he didn't know was was laced with fentanyl.
Kennedy acknowledged the problem is not exclusive to North Central, but having lived in the neighbourhood for three decades, she knows drugs affect many families in the area.
She hopes the signs, which are supposed to be up Thursday, will spark conversations among families who live in North Central and help educate youth living there.
Shay Scales, 22, supports Women of the Dawn's initiative.
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