had a busy year for Prairie Harm Reduction (PHR) is in Saskatoon as it continues to provide harm reduction services to those who need them.
PHR is Saskatchewan’s first fully operational safe consumption site, located on Pleasant Hill in Saskatoon.
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According to its year-end figures, PHR has 4,978 visits in 2022 – a thousand more than in 2021.
And while the numbers may seem high, Kayla Demong, executive director of Prairie Harm Reduction, said it’s best for the community to get more people using safe injection sites.
“The really cool thing is we’re seeing more and more people using the site,” Demong said. “We’re seeing really good engagement and people are continuing to come to support.”
Prairie Harm Reduction also managed 4,871 safe consumption last year, according to Demong.
They noticed that a significant figure was also in excess. In 2021, four on-site overdoses were reported. In 2022, that number nearly triples to 11 — a number Demong said she’s not surprised to see.
“We saw a lot more fentanyl coming through the site and a lot more people knowingly using fentanyl than last year,” she explained. “But of those 11 overdoses, we had zero deaths and only had to call 911 once.”
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She said that fentanyl has become the main drug regardless of what the user thinks they are taking.
“Everything we’re testing, whether they think it’s cocaine or crystal meth, is coming back positive for fentanyl,” Demong said.
Demong said he handed out about 5,000 naloxone kits in 2021 and is confident the number for 2022 will be roughly the same.
The Saskatchewan Coroner’s Service forecasts 421 confirmed and suspected drug poisoning deaths in 2022, up from a record-setting 410 deaths in 2021.
With the boom in services and overdoses for the PHR, there is also a continuing push for more government funding as it currently runs mainly on donations.
And while more funding would be ideal for its services, Demong said it’s more important to try and create a system where they are not needed.
“We know that trauma is often an underlying cause, and we need a better mental health care system,” she said.
“We know that if we can treat the trauma, substance abuse often improves.”
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