Original Broadcaster Captioning (Enhanced). Treat it as a searchable index of what was broadcast, not a quotation record.
00:00:00, 55 couples came together on the
00:00:03US show, but only a handful, 8 remained together. Still,
00:00:07romantics don't seem fazed. I really hope I get I get to be
00:00:11part of it. No word yet on When
00:00:14Love Is Blind Canada will begin filming. Mahdi Gebrselassie,
00:00:18CBC News, Toronto.
00:00:29Hi, I'm Michelle Gaub. Communities
00:00:30across Canada are facing a deeply complex and growing drug
00:00:33crisis, one that continues to evolve
00:00:36and touch the lives of people in every region of the country.
00:00:40Over the next hour, we'll take a closer look at
00:00:43stories revealing how this crisis is shaping our
00:00:46healthcare system, straining housing,
00:00:48challenging policing, and impacting families. We
00:00:51begin by examining some of the underlying causes and the far
00:00:55reaching consequences of a crisis with no easy solution.
00:05:02These are videos inside overseas drug labs sent to us
00:05:04from people claiming to produce a synthetic opioid more than 40
00:05:08times stronger than fentanyl.
00:05:11Check it out. Ready to be smuggled into Canada. And The
00:05:14thing is, all we had to do was respond to
00:05:16ads and posts on social media, and within minutes,
00:05:19we're on the phone with criminals.
00:05:21This is illegal in Canada, right? You know that. Yeah,
00:05:24I know the drug Knight Azines, a deadly opioid that's popping
00:05:28up all over the world. Nitrazine. Nitrazine. Nitrazine.
00:05:31They're called a netizens. I see people coughing up blood on
00:05:34seeing people dying. And we're going to take you inside this
00:05:38emerging crisis. It can kill people, right?
00:05:40I just want you to make sure you know that
00:05:46netizens are so powerful, it can be hard to wrap your
00:05:50head around. So to give you an idea,
00:05:52let's start with morphine. Heroin is roughly 2 times more
00:05:56potent than morphine. Fentanyl is up to 40 times stronger than
00:06:00heroin and night Azines, they're up to 43 times stronger
00:06:03than fentanyl, and they're killing people
00:06:06around the world. It took just one and it was poison. He was
00:06:10unresponsive on the bed and he was he was turning blue. He'd
00:06:14already gone. So how many people have died in Canada?
00:06:17And we ask every corner across the country. And since 2021,
00:06:20there have been over 300 deaths caused or suspected to be
00:06:24caused by netizens.
00:06:27The drugs are flowing into Canada. In recent years,
00:06:29police have seized medicines and busts across the country. 2
00:06:33busts in Quebec alone last year accounted for over a million
00:06:36fake pharmaceutical pills laced with night azines. Why would
00:06:40criminals want to use night azines when fentanyl is right
00:06:43there? Obviously not a fan of
00:06:44organized crime groups, but they're going to look for
00:06:47more efficiencies, right? And if you have a more potent
00:06:50drug that can be cut and achieve the same effect with
00:06:53lower volumes, that's appealing. Where are these noises coming from? 75%
00:06:57are are coming from China. Here's a mugshot of Ontario man
00:07:01Matthew Fan CBS a intercepted shipments of night Azines from
00:07:04China allegedly for him hidden in pet food. So where are
00:07:07people finding netizens online ads are are are how this this
00:07:10market functions right now. You know there's going to be
00:07:13websites that might advertise it ownership. Each time a
00:07:16website gets taken down, it's back up the next day. If
00:07:19you close down the business entity overseas,
00:07:22they're going to recreate a commercial enterprise the next
00:07:25day under a different business name. Our investigation,
00:07:28supported by open source investigators at Bellingcat,
00:07:31found hundreds of netizen ads and posts all over the Internet,
00:07:35images of powders, chemical names for various
00:07:38night azines and contact info on platforms like ex Reddit,
00:07:41LinkedIn, Google and perhaps which is
00:07:44owned by Adobe. We also find them on ecommerce websites in
00:07:48India.
00:07:51So we respond to dozens of these ads and within minutes
00:07:55we're on the phone with criminals,
00:07:5714 different sellers who are all part of a global network
00:08:01based in India, China, the UK and the US. We find this
00:08:04seller on Exporters India you. Rush Enterprises says they're
00:08:08an Indian pharma trading company that's been in business
00:08:12for over a decade. Is it coming from India or China?
00:08:15Coming from India,
00:08:16because recently due to the the issues going on between the US
00:08:20and China with the tariffs, there's been a lot of blockage
00:08:24from China. So you know it's because it's illegal in Canada,
00:08:28right? Yeah, I understand it's dangerous as
00:08:30well to if it's the wrong supply, it can kill someone.
00:08:36They reveal how they smuggle it into Canada. What do you label
00:08:41it as? Yeah, usually it can either be a
00:08:44caffeine detergent. Sometimes we can go with the spices. The
00:08:48seller who says he's from the UK has another way he hides
00:08:53drugs.
00:08:55Maybe you put it on your on your grams in basketball and
00:08:59everything to you. Others show us how they conceal night
00:09:03azines and Chinese herbal products and teapots and they
00:09:07can be delivered the same day that we use most often is,
00:09:11you know, they're from Michigan, Detroit to, you know,
00:09:15Winsell. So we use the tunnel and that's easy,
00:09:18easy movement. How long would it take?
00:09:21Maximum should be about 10 hours. We get so many images
00:09:25from sellers, barrels of chemicals and pill presses,
00:09:29we start to notice similarities. These sellers claim to be
00:09:32different, but they use the same scales
00:09:35and the same Bitcoin address.
00:09:40We ask all the sellers to show us proof they've sent drugs to
00:09:44Canada before. One who calls himself Jerry shares images and
00:09:47videos of their lab in China.
00:09:50This is a video for Eric on May 22,
00:09:532025. And records of past shipments to Quebec labeled as
00:09:56pearlescent pigments. And this one to Ontario,
00:09:59which has a clue, a tracking number. We put it
00:10:03into the FedEx tracking system. It leaves Beijing and arrives
00:10:07in the US in Anchorage, AK, then Memphis before being
00:10:10delivered in Waterloo. OR worried that this will continue
00:10:14to ring to rise as as an ongoing threat. Crime groups
00:10:17are not dealing with product, they're dealing with death.
00:10:40TRUMP ADMINISTRATION. >>> WELL, HARM REDUCTION WORKERS ARE WARNING OF A NEW DRUG
00:10:44>>> WELL, HARM REDUCTION WORKERS ARE WARNING OF A NEW DRUG CIRCULATING IN THE CITY CALLED
00:10:48ARE WARNING OF A NEW DRUG CIRCULATING IN THE CITY CALLED RHINO TRANK.
00:10:51CIRCULATING IN THE CITY CALLED RHINO TRANK. IT'S FENTANYL LACE WE HAD A DRUG
00:10:53RHINO TRANK. IT'S FENTANYL LACE WE HAD A DRUG USED IN VETERINARY MEDICINE, AS
00:10:57IT'S FENTANYL LACE WE HAD A DRUG USED IN VETERINARY MEDICINE, AS ALI CHIASSON REPORTS, IT'S
00:10:59USED IN VETERINARY MEDICINE, AS ALI CHIASSON REPORTS, IT'S CAUSES OVERDOSE THAT IS ARE
00:11:01ALI CHIASSON REPORTS, IT'S CAUSES OVERDOSE THAT IS ARE DIFFICULTY TO REVERSE.
00:11:03CAUSES OVERDOSE THAT IS ARE DIFFICULTY TO REVERSE. A POWERFUL TRANQUILIZER USED IN
00:11:07DIFFICULTY TO REVERSE. A POWERFUL TRANQUILIZER USED IN VETERINARY MEDICINE.
00:11:09A POWERFUL TRANQUILIZER USED IN VETERINARY MEDICINE. IT'S CURRENTLY FOUND IN 80% OF
00:11:12VETERINARY MEDICINE. IT'S CURRENTLY FOUND IN 80% OF THE FENTANYL SAMPLES CHECKED BY IT'S CURRENTLY FOUND IN 80% OF THE FENTANYL SAMPLES CHECKED BY THE TORONTO DRUG-CHECKING
00:11:16THE FENTANYL SAMPLES CHECKED BY THE TORONTO DRUG-CHECKING SERVICE. THE TORONTO DRUG-CHECKING SERVICE. >> PEOPLE HAVING A BAD
00:11:19SERVICE. >> PEOPLE HAVING A BAD EXPERIENCE WITH THE DRUG THAT >> PEOPLE HAVING A BAD EXPERIENCE WITH THE DRUG THAT THEY USED AND WANTED TO
00:11:23EXPERIENCE WITH THE DRUG THAT THEY USED AND WANTED TO UNDERSTAND WHAT LED TO THAT, THEY USED AND WANTED TO UNDERSTAND WHAT LED TO THAT, BECAUSE THIS DIDN'T ALIGN WITH
00:11:27UNDERSTAND WHAT LED TO THAT, BECAUSE THIS DIDN'T ALIGN WITH SORT OF PREVIOUS EXPERIENCES BECAUSE THIS DIDN'T ALIGN WITH SORT OF PREVIOUS EXPERIENCES THAT THEY HAD.
00:11:30SORT OF PREVIOUS EXPERIENCES THAT THEY HAD. >> Reporter: FENTANYL IS BEING THAT THEY HAD. >> Reporter: FENTANYL IS BEING CUT WITH RHINOTRANK BECAUSE IS
00:11:34>> Reporter: FENTANYL IS BEING CUT WITH RHINOTRANK BECAUSE IS INCREASES THE EFFECT. CUT WITH RHINOTRANK BECAUSE IS INCREASES THE EFFECT. >> TO TRY AND SORT OF, LIKE,
00:11:38INCREASES THE EFFECT. >> TO TRY AND SORT OF, LIKE, INCREASE THE LONGEVITY OF THE >> TO TRY AND SORT OF, LIKE, INCREASE THE LONGEVITY OF THE EXPERIENCE.
00:11:42INCREASE THE LONGEVITY OF THE EXPERIENCE. >> Reporter: BUT IT CAUSES EXPERIENCE. >> Reporter: BUT IT CAUSES HEART RATES TO DROP.
00:11:46>> Reporter: BUT IT CAUSES HEART RATES TO DROP. IN COMBINATION WITH THE OPIOID HEART RATES TO DROP. IN COMBINATION WITH THE OPIOID EFFECT OF SLOWING BREATHING.
00:11:50IN COMBINATION WITH THE OPIOID EFFECT OF SLOWING BREATHING. >> IT'S REALLY HARD TO FIND A EFFECT OF SLOWING BREATHING. >> IT'S REALLY HARD TO FIND A PULSE ON PEOPLE.
00:11:53>> IT'S REALLY HARD TO FIND A PULSE ON PEOPLE. >> Reporter: OVERDOSES ARE PULSE ON PEOPLE. >> Reporter: OVERDOSES ARE HARD TO REVERSE.
00:11:57>> Reporter: OVERDOSES ARE HARD TO REVERSE. NALOXONE CAN REVERSE THE HARD TO REVERSE. NALOXONE CAN REVERSE THE FENTANYL, BUT DOES NOTHING FOR
00:12:00NALOXONE CAN REVERSE THE FENTANYL, BUT DOES NOTHING FOR THE TRANQUILIZER IT'S LACED FENTANYL, BUT DOES NOTHING FOR THE TRANQUILIZER IT'S LACED WITH.
00:12:04THE TRANQUILIZER IT'S LACED WITH. >> THEY MIGHT STAY IN THE WITH. >> THEY MIGHT STAY IN THE EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT FOR A
00:12:07>> THEY MIGHT STAY IN THE EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT FOR A LITTLE BIT LONGER. EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT FOR A LITTLE BIT LONGER. THEY MIGHT NEED AN IV, BECAUSE
00:12:11LITTLE BIT LONGER. THEY MIGHT NEED AN IV, BECAUSE THEIR BLOOD PRESSURE IS LOWER. THEY MIGHT NEED AN IV, BECAUSE THEIR BLOOD PRESSURE IS LOWER. >> Reporter: SOMETHING
00:12:15THEIR BLOOD PRESSURE IS LOWER. >> Reporter: SOMETHING HOSPITALS HERE ARE TRYING TO >> Reporter: SOMETHING HOSPITALS HERE ARE TRYING TO AVOID.
00:12:18HOSPITALS HERE ARE TRYING TO AVOID. >> THE OTHER EFFECT THAT WE'RE AVOID. >> THE OTHER EFFECT THAT WE'RE SEEING IN PHILADELPHIA IS THIS
00:12:22>> THE OTHER EFFECT THAT WE'RE SEEING IN PHILADELPHIA IS THIS REALLY BAD WITHDRAWAL SYNDROME
00:12:24SEEING IN PHILADELPHIA IS THIS REALLY BAD WITHDRAWAL SYNDROME WHICH HAS LED TO LOTS OF ICU REALLY BAD WITHDRAWAL SYNDROME WHICH HAS LED TO LOTS OF ICU PRESENTATIONS, AND THE QUESTION
00:12:28WHICH HAS LED TO LOTS OF ICU PRESENTATIONS, AND THE QUESTION IS HOW THAT'S GOING TO PLAY OUT PRESENTATIONS, AND THE QUESTION IS HOW THAT'S GOING TO PLAY OUT HERE IN TORONTO.
00:12:32IS HOW THAT'S GOING TO PLAY OUT HERE IN TORONTO. >> IF THERE WAS AN OVERDOSE, WE HERE IN TORONTO. >> IF THERE WAS AN OVERDOSE, WE COULD TREAT IT HERE.
00:12:36>> IF THERE WAS AN OVERDOSE, WE COULD TREAT IT HERE. >> Reporter: I MET WITH RAY COULD TREAT IT HERE. >> Reporter: I MET WITH RAY CLARK OF THE PARKDALE QUEEN WEST
00:12:40>> Reporter: I MET WITH RAY CLARK OF THE PARKDALE QUEEN WEST COMMUNITY HEALTH CENTRE INSIDE
00:12:42CLARK OF THE PARKDALE QUEEN WEST COMMUNITY HEALTH CENTRE INSIDE THEIR SHUTTERED SAFE CONSUMPTION COMMUNITY HEALTH CENTRE INSIDE THEIR SHUTTERED SAFE CONSUMPTION SITE, SINCE THE PROVINCE CLOSED
00:12:46THEIR SHUTTERED SAFE CONSUMPTION SITE, SINCE THE PROVINCE CLOSED IT LAST YEAR. SITE, SINCE THE PROVINCE CLOSED IT LAST YEAR. >> WE HAVE LESS OF A REALLY
00:12:50IT LAST YEAR. >> WE HAVE LESS OF A REALLY POINT IN TIME PICTURE OF WHAT
00:12:52>> WE HAVE LESS OF A REALLY POINT IN TIME PICTURE OF WHAT WE'RE SEEING IN THE DRUG SUPPLY.
00:12:54POINT IN TIME PICTURE OF WHAT WE'RE SEEING IN THE DRUG SUPPLY. >> Reporter: IN THIS NEW ERA
00:12:58>> Reporter: IN THIS NEW ERA OF ABSTINENCE-BASED TREATMENT MODELS IN ONTARIO, HE SAYS... OF ABSTINENCE-BASED TREATMENT MODELS IN ONTARIO, HE SAYS... >> WE NEED TO THINK ABOUT
00:13:02You're watching CBC News in depth. Stay with us.
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00:13:11stories that matter to you, whether it's local,
00:13:14national or around the world, turn to CBC News.
00:15:29Thanks for joining us as we explore Canada's drug crisis.
00:15:31Addiction has many faces and doesn't discriminate against
00:15:34anyone. People from various walks of life struggle with
00:15:38such addiction. There are personal stories behind the
00:15:41numbers we see in the headlines, and those stories don't always
00:15:45match the stereotypes associated with users.
00:15:59What would you describe as rock bottom for you?
00:16:02Ohm boy?
00:16:04It was definitely the last three months of my using.
00:16:08I had collapsed some of the veins in my arm because I've
00:16:12been using so much. So I was sitting like poking around,
00:16:15like trying to find a, a vein, which is very painful. I would
00:16:19use until I passed out and I, I could be using for 24 or 48
00:16:22hours straight. I would pass out. I get up the next day and
00:16:26say like I have to get my act together and I just the sort of
00:16:29the mental challenge of doing that was just overwhelming. So
00:16:33the solution was I'll just get high again.
00:16:37And that's, that's what it was like. It was
00:16:39I was, I was hoping that I would overdose and then I that would
00:16:44solve my problems well, but I didn't have the courage
00:16:46to kill myself.
00:16:54Vancouver is a city of gleaming towers,
00:16:57fancy restaurants and high end shops.
00:17:00But just a short walk from all of that is a much different
00:17:04world,
00:17:07the Downtown East Side, where the dangers of addiction
00:17:10are always easy to find.
00:17:13This is also where Gordon Lowe's found himself at the
00:17:16pinnacle of his career as CEO, one of Canada's most successful
00:17:21retailers. He was wandering these alleyways in search of
00:17:25the cocaine that had taken over his life.
00:17:30He considers himself one of the rare lucky ones to survive
00:17:34these streets and his addiction. And for the first time in
00:17:38nearly 30 years, he's come back to the Downtown
00:17:42East Side to share his story.
00:17:45So how does it feel to be walking here?
00:17:47OHT It's a it brings back bad memories for sure. And I've
00:17:51been in a lot of these alleys, mostly at night time,
00:17:55and they're dangerous places to be.
00:17:58I almost got knifed in one alley. And yeah, it's,
00:18:02it's a rough,
00:18:03rough place. I'm curious, when you look around here and
00:18:07you look into the faces of the people who are on the streets
00:18:10of the Downtown Eastside, Yeah. What do you see?
00:18:14Ah, I I see sadness,
00:18:18despair, and complete hopelessness.
00:18:32For Gordon Lowe's, that life of sadness,
00:18:34despair and hopelessness began with a single terrible decision
00:18:39he made nearly 30 years ago.
00:18:43I want to start with the moment in your life that I think
00:18:46changed everything. And that was the first time that you
00:18:50smoked crack cocaine to take us to that moment. Yeah,
00:18:53so I ended up with with the getting involved with the
00:18:57ultimate femme fatale.
00:19:00She was a stripper from Seattle. I've been dating her for about
00:19:03a year when I was in Seattle every couple weeks on business.
00:19:07She ended up moving in with me in Vancouver and within two
00:19:10months of her moving in, I discovered that she had a
00:19:12drug problem. I came home one day early and she was all
00:19:15messed up and broke down and admitted that she was a drug
00:19:18addict. She'd been an addict since she was 16 years old.
00:19:23We got her into treatment a couple of times. It didn't work.
00:19:26I basically said to her, you know,
00:19:28I can't live with someone who's an addict like this. Like,
00:19:32it's just not, you know, I'm too busy and I don't want
00:19:35to have that, that stress. And she basically
00:19:37basically said, I'll, I'll leave,
00:19:39but at least try it with me once and you'll be able to see
00:19:43how it makes me feel and you'll have a bit more empathy for my
00:19:46situation. So on a Friday night, we sat down on the kitchen
00:19:50table. She handed me a, a crack pipe.
00:19:52And at that point in your life, you're 48 years old,
00:19:55you had not used any drugs at all, right,
00:19:58Except one time hash when you were like 20 years old. Yeah.
00:20:01Yeah. So I didn't do drugs. I was around them in the music
00:20:05business back in the 70s. And it just didn't didn't try them.
00:20:10I didn't drink much. And so I didn't have any of those sort
00:20:14of tendencies. So it became it was a complete shock to me that
00:20:18at the age of 48 by by smoking crack once. And I didn't,
00:20:21I think I thought I was invincible. I think I could do
00:20:25this. It's not a big deal. I'll survive. And it really it copy
00:20:29the passage in your book where you describe this moment is
00:20:33incredible. I'd like you to read it for us here. It begins
00:20:37with seconds after exhaling. OK,
00:20:40seconds after exhaling, a powerful rush of euphoria
00:20:44washes over me,
00:20:46exploding in a kaleidoscopic starburst inside my brain,
00:20:50a super sized supernova. I'm engulfed by an overwhelming,
00:20:54mind blowing meteor shower of ecstasy that wraps me in a cozy
00:20:58cocoon of pure joy. And then a vast calm,
00:21:01like the eerie stillness of floating in outer space in a
00:21:05New York second. I'm feeling very fine, then fantastic,
00:21:09and then ******* awesome. And that feeling was so powerful
00:21:14that for the next, I don't know,
00:21:161000 days, yeah. It was the most important
00:21:19thing in your life. Yeah. Yeah. It's
00:21:22getting high. Solve all of my problems. When you're stressed
00:21:26about work or you're stressed about being an addict and
00:21:29you're stressed about people finding out,
00:21:32getting high is the solution. It just makes you feel better.
00:21:36And the extraordinary thing is while you were doing this on
00:21:40Friday nights and Saturdays and Sundays here in Vancouver,
00:21:43you are continuing as as the CEO of Sleep Country,
00:21:47one of the most successful retailers in Canada. Tell me
00:21:50about your work week. So
00:21:53Christine McGee and I basically split responsibilities. So she
00:21:57was managing most of the day-to-day business,
00:21:59the the Salesforce, the distribution,
00:22:02the accounting administration and I handle all the real
00:22:05estate merchandising in relationship with vendors and
00:22:08stuff. So very little of my time was spent with people
00:22:12within Slate Country was spent with external people. And so I
00:22:15managed my own agenda and so I could basically tell people,
00:22:19you know, I've got a meeting in Toronto and I'll be gone
00:22:23batteries and then I go and get hyper 2 days and no one would
00:22:26know the difference. And, you know,
00:22:28when we were opening in Calgary, I would tell them, you know,
00:22:31the people in Toronto that I was in Calgary,
00:22:33the people in in Vancouver that I was in Seattle. So it was
00:22:36just, you know, basically game of,
00:22:38of moving things around. OK. But other than the deception,
00:22:41where you actually getting stuff done?
00:22:43Were you getting your work done? Yeah, no, I,
00:22:46I was functioning very well. Cocaine gets out of your system
00:22:49within about 48 hours or so. And so you, you can appear and actually
00:22:53function in a very normal way. And I was a bit,
00:22:56I was mostly a workaholic at the time. So I had, you know,
00:23:00that determination and drive to really get the stuff done that
00:23:04needed to be done at work and not have it affect my life. As
00:23:08incredible as all of that is,
00:23:11it eventually did affect your life. And you couldn't keep
00:23:14these two parts of your life going. Yeah. So this this the
00:23:18stress of of people finding out that I was messed up and I was
00:23:22getting increasingly messed up, you know,
00:23:24on a regular basis. And I didn't think I could carry off
00:23:27the charade anymore. So I was I was constantly terrified that I
00:23:31would get caught out in some, you know,
00:23:34outrageous line. There were a lot of outrageous lies that I
00:23:37told to account for where I was supposed to be, but I wasn't. And
00:23:41so it just, it was like this huge sort of
00:23:44tidal wave of stress building and building and building and
00:23:47building. I ended up shooting U cocaine within a year of that
00:23:51first hit on a crack pipe
00:23:54and by May of 1998 I couldn't hold it together. I I was
00:23:58certain that I was gonna crash and everybody would find out.
00:24:02So I took a leave of absence from work and I told my
00:24:05partners that I would be back on the job my Labour Day. And I
00:24:10figure 3 months I'll have enough time to get myself clean
00:24:13and sober with no stress, no distractions. And all I did
00:24:17was basically just continue to go downhill. So I was
00:24:21completely isolated, basically shooting up cocaine
00:24:24on a daily basis. And at one point,
00:24:28this executive from Sleep Country Canada, Yeah.
00:24:32Is walking around here and the Downtown East Side trying to
00:24:35score drugs. Yeah, Yeah. I've, I've been in and out of the
00:24:39alleyways. And I had learned by that time that the way you can
00:24:42score drugs in almost any city in North America,
00:24:45as if you find us a street ****** they always have a drug
00:24:49connection. And so I would come down here and look for a ******
00:24:53get her drug connection and then hook up with with that was
00:24:56a dealer. I mean, to hear that story to to,
00:24:59to look at you, to know who you were as this
00:25:02executive and to hear you came down to the Downtown East Side to find
00:25:05a ****** to find drugs is mind boggle.
00:25:08Yeah. And yeah, I've, I've, I've been through the alleyways
00:25:12down here. I've been here like at, you know, 4 in the morning,
00:25:17have been stopped by the police down here. I had to go and
00:25:20basically bail out my, my girlfriend out of the
00:25:24Brandies H1 night because she was in there buying drugs and
00:25:27some guy was basically holding her hostage. And I had to come
00:25:31down here and go up to the room and pay the guy $200 to let her
00:25:36go. So it's, it's, it's, it's an incredible world that
00:25:39it's just unbelievable. What would you describe as rock
00:25:43bottom for you? OHP boy.
00:25:47It was definitely the last three months of my using.
00:25:51I had collapsed some of the veins in my arm because I'd
00:25:54been using so much. So I was sitting like poking around like
00:25:58trying to find a, a vein, which is very painful. I would
00:26:01use until I passed out and I, I could be using for 24 or 48
00:26:04hours straight. I would pass out. I get up the next day and
00:26:08say like I have to get my act together and I just the sort of
00:26:12the mental challenge of doing that was just overwhelming. So
00:26:15the solution was I'll just get high again.
00:26:19And that's, that's what it was like. It was I was,
00:26:23I was hoping that I would overdose and then I that would
00:26:26solve my problems well, but I didn't have the courage
00:26:29to kill myself.
00:26:32After more than 1000 days of being addicted to cocaine,
00:26:35Gordon Lounds, still the CEO of Sleep Country
00:26:39Canada, turned to his friend and
00:26:41company cofounder to finally ask for help.
00:26:46Two days past that, my deadline that I had set for
00:26:48myself, I broke down a phone, Steve gone. And I said, look,
00:26:52you know, I've had some health problems, but what you don't know is that
00:26:56I've got a cocaine problem and it's really bad.
00:26:59And I thought that he was just gonna just blast off at me and
00:27:03being really upset with me and,
00:27:06and he really, he surprised me. He said,
00:27:09I'm really sorry. What can I do to help? So
00:27:12it was a
00:27:14was a kind of compassion that I, that I didn't know existed and
00:27:18I didn't, you know, believe was, was was I was,
00:27:22I was willing or I was able to accept it and,
00:27:25and really incredible even today. But in 1998,
00:27:28for him to have that compassionate view is,
00:27:31is extraordinary.
00:27:33You're pretty honest in your book about a lot of things,
00:27:36including, And I hope you don't mind this
00:27:38characterization. Seems like you're a bit of a jerk as you
00:27:41went through the recovery process. Yeah,
00:27:44that's probably true.
00:27:47I was just being in charge. I was used to people telling,
00:27:50you know, paying attention to what I said.
00:27:52I had a very competitive streak. And actually when when Steve
00:27:56Gunn drove me up to the Friedman Centre, he said, Gore,
00:28:00do me a favor. Just just, it's not a competition. Like
00:28:03you don't have to prove you're smarter than they are.
00:28:07And I had some challenges with that. And I was lucky enough
00:28:11they basically we're going to kick me out of the treatment
00:28:14centre after my first two weeks because I was not behaving well.
00:28:18And they finally said, we're going to give you a foot
00:28:21you in the care of Doctor Cooney,
00:28:23who's the sort of chief medical officer. And he was the guy who
00:28:27handled the hard cases. And he absolutely leveled me. And I
00:28:30just he, he basically is one of the
00:28:32reasons I'm clean and sober.
00:28:35The
00:28:37there's a debate going on in Canada about harm reduction
00:28:41versus treatment now. And you're not an addiction expert,
00:28:44but you are an expert on your own story. Yeah. And so as you
00:28:48hear that, you know, should
00:28:50should people who are addicted be given access to clean drugs?
00:28:54Should they not be enforced into treatment?
00:28:57There are all kinds of permutations there. Yeah.
00:29:00What's your view of that? My view is that if you can put
00:29:04an addict in touch with another human being who would be
00:29:07available when the addict decides that they need to turn
00:29:11their life around, then any way you put them in
00:29:14touch with that person, with that outside individual is
00:29:18a is a benefit. So whether it's harm reduction,
00:29:21whether it's treatment, whether it's safe supply,
00:29:23to me it doesn't matter as long as you're putting the attic in
00:29:26touch with a human being who can be there for them when
00:29:29they're ready to turn their life around.
00:29:32In 1998, while you were going through
00:29:35the throes of this, I was doing a lot of stories on
00:29:38the Downtown East Side, and I looked now here,
00:29:41and it looks the same as it did back then. Yeah. Will it ever
00:29:45change? Oh, I used to be told that, you know,
00:29:48roughly 10% of the people who try to get clean and sober are
00:29:53successful, which is really,
00:29:55really depressing. And, and on its own. I understand
00:29:59that, you know, with some new meds that are
00:30:02available today, it's up to sort of fifteen
00:30:042025%, but it's still 8 percentage.
00:30:07And when you look at the combination of, of the,
00:30:10the homeless problems here, the mental health problems,
00:30:13the addiction problems,
00:30:16it's, it's I, I don't understand how we'll
00:30:19ever get out of it. I do know that I,
00:30:22I think a course solution starts with housing,
00:30:25because when you get people off the street and into housing,
00:30:28then they they regain some of their dignity and they have
00:30:32some hope that maybe they can turn their life around. You
00:30:35made a decision to write an incredibly candid book. You
00:30:38know, you didn't hold anything back and, and your stories out there now
00:30:41for for everyone to read.
00:30:43What do you hope the impact of your story will be?
00:30:47The major reason I've put it out there was to let people
00:30:51know that addiction can happen to anyone at anytime in their
00:30:55life in any, you know, level of the social spectrum.
00:30:59And it can happen for any number of reasons. So no one is
00:31:03basically guaranteed that, you know,
00:31:05I'll be OK. And so basically, you have to avoid the
00:31:09situations that I stepped into where I thought I was
00:31:13invincible. And you know, with the drugs out of the out
00:31:16there these days, you know, no one is, is,
00:31:19is is protected. So I wanted that message to get out there
00:31:22that it's not just people that you see on the street in the
00:31:25Downtown East Side. It, it covers the whole spectrum
00:31:30And, and secondly, that no matter how messed up
00:31:33people are, there is always hope that you
00:31:35can turn your life around. And it's never too late to make
00:31:39that decision to ask for help and accept the help. And the
00:31:42biggest, biggest challenge of the people
00:31:45have who are, who are addicts is basically
00:31:47asking for help. And I would refuse to ask for help. I just,
00:31:51you know, I was too proud. And pride can
00:31:54kill you, as they say. So
00:31:56what I did do was accept the help when it was offered,
00:31:59basically because I didn't think I had a choice. So I was
00:32:02lucky in that sense. And you're better now. Yeah,
00:32:05yeah,
00:32:06you answer that almost too quickly.
00:32:10I'm better now. I'm much more humble. I'm incredibly grateful
00:32:14for the life that I've been able to get back to. I've
00:32:17rekindled and and basically fixed the relationship with my
00:32:20daughter, which I really seriously
00:32:23damaged. Like when I got messed up,
00:32:25she was like 17 years old. And it's one of the reasons I
00:32:28didn't publish the book back 20 years ago,
00:32:31because I didn't want to have it affect her.
00:32:35And so. So, yeah. My. What? My life is returned, you know,
00:32:38to somewhat normal. I'm now a recluse on Vancouver Island. So
00:32:41what better place to be? Well, thank you for telling the story.
00:32:45It's it's a great read. And it's really nice talking to you.
00:32:48Yeah. It's a pleasure. Thank you.
00:32:53Now to some breaking news. Are you
00:32:55World News fast? We're gathering at one of those
00:32:57turning points in history, but a headline isn't the whole
00:33:00story. Get the facts that matter. Why is that your focus
00:33:03right now? From the source, you can trust the National Canada's Newscast.
00:35:15Welcome back. Toxic drugs are a major problem right across
00:35:18Canada. Support systems are being stretched as workers try
00:35:22to respond to a need that keeps growing. Addressing this
00:35:25complicated issue often requires a complex solution,
00:35:29and it's an uphill battle for those people working to support
00:35:33those living with addiction issues.
00:35:43Will you carry a kit? And then that way if you see
00:35:46somebody, so you might not need the kit
00:35:48yourself, but you might run into somebody
00:35:50that needs help, right? Some scenes from the streets of
00:35:54Edmonton. Like a lot of places in the country, drug use,
00:35:57drug addiction continues to take lives and pose challenges
00:36:00for policymakers. Here in Alberta,
00:36:02the provincial government has passed what it calls the
00:36:05Compassionate Care Act, and one of the things it
00:36:08includes is involuntary treatment for people who are
00:36:11addicted. That was the topic of a lively conversation
00:36:14on cross country checkup. We're going to play some of that for
00:36:17you in a moment. But first I want to chat with Chanel Twan.
00:36:21She's with Boyle St. and advocacy group that works with
00:36:24those who are addicted and in this neighborhood in Edmonton.
00:36:28And and before we talk to her, I want to play a piece of tape.
00:36:32You may remember from the National about a year and a
00:36:35half ago, a powerful moment where Chanel
00:36:37showed us pictures from the funerals and memorials she'd
00:36:41been to. These folks are all people that come from our
00:36:44community, that we love, that we have relationships that
00:36:47are a little longer here, that we miss. We don't have
00:36:51enough room to show you who all our friends are,
00:36:53but all of our friends are gone.
00:37:03I just wonder, in the last year and a half,
00:37:05is it getting better? Is it the same? No,
00:37:07absolutely. It hasn't gotten better in our city. Right now,
00:37:11we're seeing ambulance calls through the roof,
00:37:13breaking records here. Like it almost feels like weekly. The
00:37:17provincial government says it's doing something, you know,
00:37:20they call it compassionate care and their focus is on treatment
00:37:23and if need be, involuntary treatment.
00:37:27What do you think? I think we could, you know,
00:37:29that may, like I said, very well work for some folks.
00:37:32The reality is it's not gonna work for everybody. And the
00:37:35folks that we need to worry about are the people who are on
00:37:38our streets dying today. The this is where like we need
00:37:41supervised consumption sites that allow for innovation. We
00:37:44need permanent supportive housing that all house wrap
00:37:47around supports built-in, especially with a huge influx
00:37:49of people who are dealing with brain injury. But there is not,
00:37:54that's not a, a solution that is going to be
00:37:56enacted today to say, you know, we're going to take everybody
00:38:00into treatment and we're going to lock them up and somehow
00:38:03magically, there's gonna be no drug
00:38:04poisonings and everything's gonna be OK. The reality is
00:38:07people are dying today. They're dying yesterday. They're,
00:38:10they're, they're going to continue to
00:38:12die tomorrow if we don't do something. And I think it's,
00:38:15you know, we want to blame somebody,
00:38:17the government, society, whatever the reality is, we,
00:38:20our society. So we need to say something. We need to do
00:38:23something
00:38:28right now. All of Canada is in the grip of this crisis,
00:38:31and we must do all we can to help Albertans who struggle
00:38:34with addiction. Hi, I'm Ian Hannam. Mansion in
00:38:36Edmonton, the first stop of cross-country
00:38:39checkups. 60th anniversary tour. Let's call a thing what it is.
00:38:42This is, in fact, forced treatment. Well,
00:38:44I don't think they're involuntary. I don't think
00:38:47that's a good idea. I'm a recovering addict. If you're
00:38:50making them go, it's going to make them
00:38:52resentful.
00:38:54Scheduled and had lived experiences with addiction. Yes,
00:38:58I do believe that involuntary care is absolutely essential.
00:39:02Our question, is involuntary treatment for
00:39:04addiction ever justified? When, if ever, should it be mandatory?
00:39:09We have two guests in the studio now,
00:39:12Angie Stains and Brandon Shaw. Welcome to our studio. You're a
00:39:15nurse, Angie, and the founder of 4B Harm
00:39:18Reduction Society and Edmonton Outreach Group. And Brandon is
00:39:21your son, the co-founder of the society.
00:39:24Brandon, you've lived through addiction
00:39:26and involuntary treatment when you were young. High to both of
00:39:30you. Thanks for having us, Angie. Before I ask Brandon
00:39:33about his journey, I want you to tell me about the
00:39:36shift. You were working in outreach as a nurse and
00:39:39discovered your son on the street.
00:39:42Um, it was, it was a summer evening. We
00:39:46were out in the core here, not far. How about three blocks
00:39:52from here? And
00:39:54I was told he was in a certain area and I went to look and
00:39:58that's when I found him experiencing a drug poisoning.
00:40:05It was, it's, it's hard to talk about, Um,
00:40:10but I was able to revive him. I think the hardest part of that,
00:40:14that I was watching him walk away knowing what he was gonna,
00:40:19you know, not knowing what he was gonna
00:40:23do next or experience. Brandon, it's hard for your mom to talk
00:40:28about it all these years later. What's it like for you to hear
00:40:32that story? It's it's really hard.
00:40:37I remember walking away.
00:40:40I remember feeling very upset.
00:40:43I'm kind of confused
00:40:46and just disappointed them. And this was never in the book of
00:40:50cards that I had planned out, you know,
00:40:53And I I remember in that moment just feeling this overwhelming
00:40:57sense of just needing to get out of there and out of that
00:41:02space and and I just walked away. And you were forced into
00:41:05treatment when you were 16 years old?
00:41:07Yeah. When I was 16. Yeah. How how did that work?
00:41:09Didn't work out well.
00:41:11Sent me on firstly, it sent me on another like it
00:41:15sent me on a 15 years of just this massive spiral and it was
00:41:20something that was
00:41:23traumatic, traumatic, very traumatic. I didn't come
00:41:25out of there healed. I didn't come out of there,
00:41:28these skills, any skills or anything or any,
00:41:31any, anything like that. I, I came out of there a better
00:41:33drug user. I came out of there traumatized. I came out of
00:41:36their criminalized. They came out of their
00:41:40feeling like a junkie and like with no, with literally,
00:41:44quite literally no supports.
00:41:47All right, let's go to the phones now. And
00:41:49Emily is calling from Ottawa. We're not using her full name
00:41:53because there could be consequences to her future
00:41:56employment. Hi, Emily. Hi there. You were in
00:41:59involuntary care in British Columbia. What was that
00:42:02experience like? I mean, I would not be alive today if
00:42:06it weren't for that involuntary care.
00:42:10So, and I'm very happy to be alive.
00:42:14You know, I think that
00:42:17involuntary care is justified, but I I do not agree with
00:42:23government policy mandating it because I see that
00:42:30from where I stand. I just don't think that we have enough
00:42:34infrastructure in place to really tackle what needs to be
00:42:38tackled. Well, joining me now in CBC studio in
00:42:41Edmonton is Superintendent Keith Johnson. He leads the
00:42:44community Safety and well-being Bureau of the Edmonton Police
00:42:48Service. Hi. Hi. Thanks for having me today. Yeah,
00:42:51thanks for being in the on the program. You've been on the
00:42:55force for nearly three decades. How is the opioid crisis over
00:42:59the last few years reshaped Edmonton?
00:43:01It's in my almost 30 years, I can honestly say I've never
00:43:05really seen anything like it.
00:43:07And coming out of COVID and seeing the,
00:43:10the impact that fentanyl has had on the population has been
00:43:14greatly has been very, very challenging for our
00:43:17frontline members. And it's something where where we where
00:43:21we have to address it under the current laws that we that we
00:43:25have in both in the province and federal Criminal Code.
00:43:29Let me, if I get the computer in the
00:43:31right place, go to Gillian Whittall. Yeah.
00:43:34Jillian Whittall is in Oakville, ON. Hi, Jillian. Hi. I,
00:43:38I know you, you have a tough story,
00:43:40a lot of loss within your family and and your
00:43:43neighborhood and. And that kind of informs your view of
00:43:47involuntary treatment. Tell us about that.
00:43:50Yes, I'm very in support of it. I
00:43:54lost my brother in 2017
00:43:59to a product of fentanyl called carfentanyl. He left behind
00:44:05three children and a fairly large family. Last year,
00:44:10I lost my son, and he was 27. And, you know,
00:44:15he had a promising career. He was a contractor. He had his
00:44:21own business. He just could not deal with the addiction. He
00:44:27could not get into rehab. He couldn't get help. He was
00:44:32ashamed and yes, had a lot of guilt
00:44:37and our relationship was strained for a number of years.
00:44:40Jillian, let me, let me ask you, let me ask you this. I mean,
00:44:44knowing all you know about your son,
00:44:47do you think that involuntary treatment would have changed
00:44:51things?
00:44:52Absolutely. Absolutely. Because he would have seen a way out of
00:44:56his life.
00:44:58You know, he may not have liked, you know,
00:45:01sort of how the process went. But I believe that once he was
00:45:06there, once he got cleaned and could
00:45:09actually sink and use his brain and realize people loved him,
00:45:14he wasn't a failure. Lose the guilt, you know,
00:45:17through proper programming, I I believe he'd be alive.
00:45:23Thank you very much for sharing your story.
00:45:31Coming up, we continue our look at Canada's drug crisis. Stay with us.
00:47:44We're taking a deeper look at Canada's drug crisis. At the
00:47:46centre of it is a rapidly changing and increasingly
00:47:49dangerous supply of narcotics around the country,
00:47:52one that continues to challenge responders and communities
00:47:56alike. Nonprofit organizations are working tirelessly to
00:47:59develop and implement solutions that can save lives in cases of
00:48:03toxic drug exposure.
00:48:06I actually witnessed an overdose when I was in high
00:48:08school on public transportation and even though we were in a
00:48:12declared drug poisoning crisis at this time,
00:48:15I had no idea how to help, nor did anybody else on the
00:48:18train. Chloe Goodison was in Grade 10 the first time she
00:48:21witnessed a drug overdose while riding the bus. That was in the
00:48:25summer of 2018. I wish I had had the lockout. I wish I knew
00:48:29the signs of a drug poisoning. It's now been 10 years since
00:48:32the then provincial health officer, Doctor Perry Kendall
00:48:36declared a public health emergency due to toxic drugs.
00:48:39This is an extraordinary challenge to us. I believe it
00:48:43needs the extraordinary step of invoking additional authorities.
00:48:48More than 18, 000 British Columbians have
00:48:50died 2 date from toxic drugs. Chloe's experience on the bus
00:48:54that day sparked an idea for her. It was her fellow young
00:48:59person who got on the train and saw, you know,
00:49:02she quickly fell into medical distress and nobody knew how to
00:49:06help.
00:49:08We called 911 and when they got there and gave her a naloxone
00:49:10and it worked. It challenged so much of my own inner bias that
00:49:14drug use and overdose were only happening on the Downtown East
00:49:18Side or in Surrey Central or downtown spaces. As an
00:49:21undergrad at SFU, she started an organization
00:49:24called Naloxone. They run workshops across BC to help
00:49:28people recognize and prevent overdoses. I noticed a real gap
00:49:32of knowledge in fellow young people. This is a public health
00:49:35crisis and we all need to be
00:49:37worked with the tools to respond in order to keep each
00:49:41other alive. Mark Dahl is a paramedic based in Richmond,
00:49:46BC. He also helps facilitate naloxone homes workshops. He
00:49:50typically starts off by telling people how to recognize the
00:49:55signs of an overdose. 1 is low respirations to is pale cool
00:49:59skin previous unresponsiveness for with be your constricted
00:50:04pupils then should call 911 and admission.
00:50:08So according to Mark, once you confirm that someone
00:50:11is overdosing, there's a few steps you should
00:50:14immediately take using the naloxone kit. There's two
00:50:17different kinds of naloxone kits. The older,
00:50:20more common one is the injectable. First you call 911
00:50:24they can help you with the steps. Then put the medical
00:50:28gloves on that come in the case. Then you open up the syringe
00:50:32package, take the medication out of the
00:50:34plastic bottle, crack open the medication
00:50:37ampule with your hand,
00:50:39remove the cap on the syringe and get the medication into it.
00:50:43Poor plancher up towards the sky. That will drop the
00:50:46medication. It's kind of flip that needle up towards the sky.
00:50:50There, slowly push the plunger up so
00:50:52that we get the air out. Next, sterilize the surface. Mark
00:50:56uses an orange to demonstrate, and once that's ready,
00:50:59insert a medication and at a 90° angle. And then now you
00:51:02want to depress the plunger all the way down and keep going
00:51:06until you hear that spring pop.
00:51:08Keep going, keep going, keep going,
00:51:10keep going. And now you've noticed that the needle has to
00:51:14retract back into the syringe and now it's safe for you to to
00:51:18the needle is back in here, correct?
00:51:20Yeah. It'll take 3 to 5 minutes to kick in. While all of this
00:51:24is happening, ideally someone is also doing
00:51:27mouth to mouth with the face shield that comes in the
00:51:30naloxone kit. The lack of oxygen and lack lack of
00:51:33breathing is what's going to how this opioid or what was
00:51:37going to kill
00:51:39nasal naloxone kit is the newer option and a lot easier to use.
00:51:43So this goes into the patient's nostril, correct?
00:51:47And then you just push this and that's it, that's it,
00:51:54cool, there you go. Once it's
00:51:56administered, it takes a few minutes to have
00:51:59effect. Naloxone also adapts their trainings for non-english
00:52:03speaking communities. It's called the Access for all
00:52:07program. Nick and Raj help facilitate it. If we can win
00:52:10the trust of community leaders, community members are more
00:52:14likely to be accepting of us. So typically that looks like
00:52:18reaching out to leaders within local temples,
00:52:21cultural centres
00:52:23and they are willing to invite us into their spaces. We've had
00:52:26experiences with youth coming to us and saying that it was
00:52:29something that helped prompt the conversation with their
00:52:32families at the dinner tables and really flesh out
00:52:36sort of important conversations related to substance use and
00:52:40and the opioid drug crisis. I spoke to a young mother who
00:52:44mentioned that her nephew actually died of an overdose
00:52:47since she was a young South Asian mother that I encountered
00:52:51in a local temple in Surrey. And she mentioned that just
00:52:55providing this education felt like a relief for her because
00:52:58she didn't know the signs of an overdose until after her loved
00:53:02one died. After 10 years of the emergency and nearly 20 000
00:53:06vets, Chloe Goodison wants as many
00:53:08British Columbians as possible to know how to use naloxone.
00:53:11This could be your brother, This could be your sister. This
00:53:14could be your mom. Like it doesn't matter who it is,
00:53:16this is a this is a human
00:53:18life that is, you know, needs your help. And if you
00:53:21have naloxone, you're not gonna get in trouble
00:53:24for using it. Find someone around you carrying a lock and
00:53:27get and you can get a life saving,
00:53:29almost instantaneous medication into somebody's body that will
00:53:32keep them alive.
00:53:35We've got more stories coming up after the break.
00:55:46Welcome back, I'm Michelle Gaub. With a rise
00:55:49in the supply of toxic drugs, there is an urgency to protect
00:55:53people from dangerous St. drugs and attempts are underway to
00:55:56try to introduce solutions to tackle the problem.
00:56:03It's biometric, so it's reading the blood
00:56:05vessels in your hand with the scan of a palm. Medications
00:56:09dispensed this machine, part of Main Street projects
00:56:13efforts to protect people from dangerous St. drugs. Brianna
00:56:17Supremes, the harm reduction nurse for
00:56:20their safe supply program. During our intake process,
00:56:24we actually ask everyone
00:56:26do they have fear of encountering a toxic supply or
00:56:30encountering A substance that could be fatal, and
00:56:34every person says yes. The program provides a select group
00:56:37of people primarily addicted to opioids,
00:56:40a prescribed daily amount of the opioid hydromorphone. Dr.
00:56:43Shelley Turner is the medical director. She says participants
00:56:47go through an intake process, then get a prescription to meet
00:56:50their needs. What we're trying to do is to give them enough
00:56:54that they need to function day-to-day so that they're not
00:56:57going to have withdrawal. Do some people need to get the
00:57:00effects that they want For sure. And what some people are
00:57:04dealing with chronic pain, chronic noncancer pain and
00:57:08significant health issues. And so not only now you're going to
00:57:12deal with withdrawal, but now you've got to deal with
00:57:16pain on top of that. So the complexity is there and that's
00:57:20why we see them every day. Manitoba's Office of the Chief
00:57:24Medical Examiner says of the 292 drug related deaths in the
00:57:28first nine months of last year, 159 involved opioids. Turner
00:57:32says this program aims to prevent deaths
00:57:35and is blunt about why she believes in the work they're
00:57:38doing here. You can't treat dead people,
00:57:45you have to give people a chance and if we turn people
00:57:48away, people are going to die. The
00:57:50supply is toxic. The Community Supported Opioid Access Program,
00:57:54as Main Street Project calls it, has been operating for more
00:57:58than a year and a half. The team says there's five
00:58:02participants, the maximum they've had at once.
00:58:05There's been eight in total. People are also connected with
00:58:08WRAP around supports like mental health or primary care.
00:58:12Main St.
00:58:14Projects Director of Community Initiatives Karen Meyerson says
00:58:17they're meeting people where they're at and helping them
00:58:21achieve stability. When folks are sort of spending a lot of
00:58:25time chasing or trying to find that supply that is also toxic,
00:58:29it causes a lot of different things in their lives with that
00:58:34can have negative effects. She says she's seen the benefits
00:58:38the programs had on people. We've seen someone reconnect
00:58:42with family and
00:58:43and be with their children much more often. We've had a couple
00:58:47people return to work that haven't been working for a
00:58:50really long time. We've had folks that have been housed. If
00:58:54a participant wants to stop using substances,
00:58:57she says they'd support those efforts. Brianna Sukhum,
00:59:00the nurse with the program, calls it a game changer for
00:59:04people. I think
00:59:06the big thing is it connects people back to
00:59:11their family and their loved ones and they can work on
00:59:14themselves. Turner says they only prescribe hydromorphone.
00:59:17In the future, she wants the program to expand
00:59:20to other drugs like fentanyl. Really,
00:59:22what we're trying to do is to prevent Manitobans from dying.
00:59:28I don't want anymore Manitobans to die. I don't want anymore
00:59:32Canadians to die. I lost my cousin in 2022 to an overdose.
00:59:38I think if everyone Manitoba put their hand up of who
00:59:41they've lost, it would be shocking. Main
00:59:44Street Project says funding for the program initially came from
00:59:48a federal grant through a British Columbia program.
00:59:51Foundation funding and private donor support now cover costs
00:59:55including medication not funded through health benefits. Alana
00:59:58Cole, CBC News, Winnipeg.
01:00:06Thanks for joining us. We've reached the end of our look at
01:00:08the drug crisis in Canada. For more CBC reporting on the drug
01:00:12crisis, visit us on cbc.ca or check out the GEM app.
01:00:27I'm Adrian Arceneaux, chief correspondent for CBC News. Here's what's making news right now.
01:00:34HOMES. >> Eli: THANK YOU, LINDA. >> Eli: THANK YOU, LINDA. >> Linda: YOU'RE WELCOME.
01:00:37>> Linda: YOU'RE WELCOME. >> Eli: TURNING NOW TO TRADE >> Eli: TURNING NOW TO TRADE NEGOTIATIONS BETWEEN CANADA AND NEGOTIATIONS BETWEEN CANADA AND THE U.S.
01:00:41THE U.S. THE TWO COUNTRIES ARE STILL FAR THE TWO COUNTRIES ARE STILL FAR APART ON A TARIFF DEAL AS THE
01:00:44APART ON A TARIFF DEAL AS THE CLOCK TICKS DOWN TO NEXT WEEK'S
01:00:47CLOCK TICKS DOWN TO NEXT WEEK'S DEADLINE FOR A SWEEPING ROUND OF DEADLINE FOR A SWEEPING ROUND OF TARIFFS.
01:00:50TARIFFS. WASHINGTON SAYS IT'S WILLING TO WASHINGTON SAYS IT'S WILLING TO PULL BACK ON AUTO TARIFFS, BUT
01:00:53PULL BACK ON AUTO TARIFFS, BUT IT'S STILL DEMANDING IT'S STILL DEMANDING CONCESSIONS.
01:00:56CONCESSIONS. THE MESSAGE FROM U.S. TRADE