Sigh of relief for street workers after spike in heroin overdoses | iNFOnews | Thompson-Okanagan's News Source
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Kamloops News

Sigh of relief for street workers after spike in heroin overdoses

KAMLOOPS - ASK Wellness is happy to report no further incidents related to a spike in heroin overdoses last month.

The agency reported five overdoses in 24 hours on Sept. 20, including one death.

"It moved through the community really quickly," says executive director Bob Hughes. "There have been no other reports from our outreach teams and our outreach program."

Hughes says he is unsure whether it was merely 'one bad batch' or whether an alert throughout the community has helped, but he's relieved for now.

"Who knows, you could have something happen tomorrow," he says.

Hughes has seen an increase in opiate-use in Kamloops the last two years with increased accessibility to prescribed oxycodone. He says it commonly leads to street level drugs such as fentanyl, morphine and heroin.

"Opiates have just become far too common," he says.

The centre offers safe options for those who use both distributing and collecting harm reduction supplies like needles and glass pipes and stems. For more information visit the centre online or in person 433 Tranquille Road.

To contact a reporter for this story, email: jwallace@infotelnews.ca, call: (250) 319-7494 or tweet: @jess__wallace.

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