A shocking trend continues to go in the wrong direction.
New preliminary data shows that 27 people died of a suspected drug poisoning in Guelph and Wellington County last year, up from the 22 who died in 2022.
It comes as the number of reported drug-related incidents rose to the highest point since data first began being collected and tracked in 2019.
According to data provided by Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health, there were 439 suspected drug-related incidents in Guelph and Wellington County last year, up from the 374 incidents in 2022.
Broken down, there were 428 incidents in Guelph and 11 in the rest of Wellington County.
All the deaths reported happened in Guelph.
“This really speaks to the increasingly toxic drug supply that is still in our community, and the fact that many of these incidents are really linked to that unpredictable and inconsistent, unregulated drug supply,” said Jean Hopkins, the manager of the Wellington Guelph Drug Strategy.
She said the supply on the street is potent and may contain unexpected ingredients.
Fentanyl continues to be a big factor, something that is being seen across Canada.
Public health indicates fentanyl was involved in 41.4 per cent of incidents in 2023 across Guelph and Wellington County, up from 29 per cent in 2022 and 35.4 per cent in 2021.
Broken down further, about 24 per cent of incidents in 2023 involved someone between 30 and 34 years of age, and 326 of the 439 incidents involved a male.
“These are not just numbers,” Hopkins said. “These are incidents that have impacted so many members of our community. We know that each person that is represented in these statistics are a person who has lost their lives from drug poisoning. We know that they are loved and that they are missed.”
Public health noted comparing regions should be done with caution.
“We have more partners supporting this work in Guelph, than in Dufferin and Wellington Counties,” public health spokesperson Danny Williamson said in an email.
“As a result, we may not be capturing the true impact of substance harms within these communities, especially when it comes to deaths. Deaths are typically only responded to by police if the person is already deceased, and we only have reporting in Guelph from police at this time.”
Hopkins said it is an issue that impacts everyone.
She highlighted that the drug strategy and public health issued three drug alerts over the last year, one of them warning of the presence of Xylazine, also known as the 'Zombie drug.'
Hopkins said a drug poisoning can happen quickly and unexpectedly, adding everyone who uses substances are on their own unique path.
“As a community, we really need to ensure that we can provide people with an access to a wide range of health services and the social supports to meet them where they are at, and to keep them safer,” she said.
“Part of that is also sharing information and messaging around ways to keep themselves safe, such as not using alone, or ensuring that they have Naloxone accessible, or using CTS services.”
