Secondary pandemic effects show that not only has substance and alcohol use in Guelph and Wellington County increased but so has food insecurity.
A recent report, Vital Focus put together by local organizations in Guelph and Wellington County, shows that food insecurity has become more severe as more people lose jobs, the pandemic has magnified existing disparities, it has become hard for community organizations to deliver services to ease that insecurity and people risk long term health issues if they don’t get the nutrients they need through their diet.
A Statistics Canada study that took place between May 4 and May 10 found that food insecurity significantly increased with one in seven Canadians living in a food-insecure household in the pandemic. Families with children face a higher likelihood of facing food insecurity.
The report also highlights that substance-related overdose deaths between January and August 2020 in Guelph increased by 200 per cent to 15, a jump from five from last year in the same time period.
“To me, what’s the most upsetting is that it’s trending in a very troubling direction,” said Adrienne Crowder, Wellington Dufferin Drug Strategy manager.
Crowder said fatal overdoses increasing is an indication that non-fatal overdoses are also on the increase. The report highlights that substance-related overdoses between January and August 2020 in Guelph increased by seven per cent compared to the same period last year.
“It just really speaks to the fact that we really need to address addiction as a health issue,” said Crowder.
“Across our society through the pandemic, we know that substances of all kinds, consumption has gone up,” Crowder said of the information that can easily be tracked by seeing an increase in sales of alcohol and cannabis during the pandemic.
“The fact that those who are using unregulated drugs, the fact that they’re using different or more than they were using before again is due to stressors of isolation, uncertainty, the kind of worry and stress that go with having a very unclear path in front of you,” said Crowder.
VItal signs was prepared by The Guelph Community Foundation, Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health, City of Guelph, The Corporation of the County of Wellington, Toward Common Ground and Guelph & Area Ontario Health Team.
The report also highlights that the consequences of increased substance abuse go far and wide with potential consequences such as substance dependence, substance-related harm, increased demand for treatment in the community, weakened immunity and death.
Crowder said another pressing concern during the pandemic is the increased toxicity of substances from the unregulated drug market, a large factor in the high number of deaths.
She said where people purchase their drugs has been changing because of the disruption the pandemic has caused in the drug market.
“There’s no quality control," said Crowder. "You can imagine. Borders have closed. The kind of normal supply routes for something like methamphetamine is no longer really active so there are many more homegrown labs.”
She said for those with a longstanding addiction to substances feel a need to access drugs from the illegal market to prevent withdrawal symptoms.
“Because of the stigma associated with the use of black market drugs or unregulated drugs, we collectively as a society kind of turn a blind eye to the fact that we expect people to use potentially lethal drugs every day,” said Crowder.
She said one way the community can help is by providing services for harm reduction and drug treatment available and ready
“Collectively as a community the more that we can know that this is going on and then find those ways to mitigate the hardships that people are experiencing,” said Crowder.
“When people end up in a place where they are using substances, its usually because things aren't going well for them.”
