Hamilton community members gathered to honour lives lost and advocate for a brighter future in overdose prevention
Two weeks ago, the Substance Overdose Prevention and Education Network held a drop-in butterfly art installation in honour of International Overdose Awareness Day to honour lives lost to overdose.
The initial gathering to create the origami butterflies occurred on Aug. 22, 2024 at 12:30 p.m.. The memorial was fully assembled and commemorated on Sept. 26, 2024 from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. at 541 Eatery & Exchange in Hamilton.
International Overdose Awareness Day takes place every year on August 31 with the goals of destigmatizing discussion and action about drug-related death and raising awareness about substance use. For SOPEN, the idea of a public memorial originated from a deep sense of grief over the rising death toll due to drug poisoning in Hamilton.
This year, SOPEN worked collaboratively with members from the REcreate Outreach Art Studio, Positive Health Network and Hamilton Public health to create a permanent art installation.
The memorial is made of 1,051 origami butterflies that represents the lives lost to drug poisoning in Hamilton since 2015. Kayla Crabtree, co-founder of SOPEN, shared the symbolism and significance of the butterfly. “The butterfly represents transformation and although [these] folks may not be here on earth with us now, they're often on a journey to something more beautiful,” Crabtree explained.
The butterfly represents transformation, and although folks may not be here on earth with us now, they're often on a journey to something more beautiful.
Kayla Crabtree, Co-Founder
Substance Overdose Prevention and Education Network
The memorial was a community effort. On Sept. 26, local Hamilton residents came to create and paste origami butterflies to a canvas. “It was a way to highlight the amount of grief for the amount of lives lost but also a beautiful way to bring together the community of people who are grieving the loss of all those lives,” said Crabtree.
In addition to honouring those lost, the butterfly installation serves as a reminder of the ongoing opioid crisis in Hamilton, where overdose rates have far surpassed the provincial average. Crabtree said she hopes the memorial will inspire action and raise awareness about the importance of harm reduction services, which help save lives by providing support to those struggling with substance use.
"It [the opioid crisis] does impact us all .... and it's going to drastically impact us with the closure of CTS [consumption and treatment services],” said Crabtree.
It [the opioid crisis] does impact us all .... and it's going to drastically impact us with the closure of CTS [consumption and treatment services].
Kayla Crabtree, Co-Founder
Substance Overdose Prevention and Education Network
Supervised drug consumption sites are spaces that allow individuals to safely use drugs while being monitored by trained staff to prevent overdose and aid in overdose recovery. The Ministry of Health decided to discontinue its funding for CTS and safe consumption sites across the province and they will be closed by March 2025.
"But without those services in place, it's going to be everyday community members, parks, parking lots and public businesses who are going to experience the traumatic side of the drug poisoning crisis," said Crabtree. "So for me . . . this memorial continues the conversation about this to keep these services in place that make such a massive difference."
The memorial installation at 541 Eatery & Exchange will remain on display as a permanent tribute to those lost and a reminder of the need for ongoing advocacy for harm reduction. Crabtree said she hopes that by seeing the butterflies, more people will engage with the issue and understand the importance of services like supervised consumption sites and naloxone distribution.
“Reduction is a broad spectrum of different services with the goal of supporting people where they are at until they decide to make a decision,” said Crabtree. "Not everyone uses drugs their whole life, but if they die the one time they use it, then they never get a chance to try and be sober."
Not everyone uses drugs their whole life, but if they die the one time they use it, then they never get a chance to try and be sober.
Kayla Crabtree, Co-Founder
Substance Overdose Prevention and Education Network
The memorial will continue to inspire conversation and advocacy around harm reduction in Hamilton, serving as a lasting symbol of the community’s grief but also its commitment to action. Those who wish to visit the installation and pay their respects can do so at 541 Eatery & Exchange, where the butterflies will remain on display to honour those lost to the opioid crisis.
The organization's workshop provides space for those experiencing houselessness and substance use to explore their passion for writing.
Established in 2018, Keeping Six is a community service providing opportunities for those experiencing houselessness and substance use. The organization aims to defend the rights of those who use drugs while giving them space to make their voices heard.
Created due to the opioid crisis in Hamilton, Keeping Six hopes to use its initiative to recruit members with lived experiences of being on the streets and using substances to overcome the city's drug crisis.
One of the ways in which Keeping Six creates opportunities is through the Keeping Six Arts Collective. The collective hosts events and various workshops for artists on the streets and drug use experience to explore their passions and improve their work.
Every Wednesday, the Arts Collective hosts a writing workshop at the Music Hall, located downtown on Main Street. The workshop is free for everyone to drop by and offers complementary snacks and supplies.
Maggie Ward, the current leader of the group moved from Fredericton, New Brunswick to Hamilton to finish her Ph.D. in English at McMaster University. Although Ward did not finish her Ph.D., she now works as a bookseller and freelance proofreader. She joined Keeping Six as a grad student and has been working with them since.
In an email statement to The Silhouette, Ward described how the workshop began as a way for the organization to create space for anyone to drop in and work on their free writing or prompts. The workshop started in 2021 at Gore Park before moving to the AIDS Network, the Hamilton Central library, the New Vision United Church and now, the Music Hall.
Ward became the pseudo-leader of the group when the peer leader and co-founder of Keeping Six was no longer able to attend the workshops. She provides writing support through prompts and feedback, helping writers flesh out and improve any creative ideas they might have. The group has free rein to work on what they would like, but a majority of the work being done goes towards the content for Keeping Six’s quarterly zine.
Ward explained Keeping Six’s purpose and the organization itself is different from anything else in Hamilton.
“We're focused on harm reduction, with a firm belief that art is harm reduction . . . The writing group and the zine are opportunities for folks to share their stories, which are rarely heard,” Ward stated.
Additionally, the group has received a consistent number of participants over the last few weeks, but not as many as when it first started. Ward hopes that the Music Hall as a new venue will encourage more people to attend since it is in the same location as the weekly art workshop Keeping Six also hosts.
Ward wants everyone who visits the workshop to leave having had a positive experience and feeling reinvigorated about their writing.
“I hope that folks who come to the group leave feeling like their stories are worth telling; that they're genuinely important. I also want them to feel less intimidated by writing. We encourage all forms of expression,” she explained.
“I hope that folks who come to the group leave feeling like their stories are worth telling; that they're genuinely important. I also want them to feel less intimidated by writing. We encourage all forms of expression,”
Maggie Ward, leader at Keeping Six Arts Collective
The workshop is also open to students if they wish to attend, as a good way to work on and receive feedback about their writing or just get to know more about the community and Keeping Six. Ward encourages anyone passionate about writing to drop by the workshop and to check out the zine to see what the Keeping Six community has to say.
Amid the opioid crisis, organizations on campus have been working to make naloxone, a drug that reverses the effects of an opiate overdose, more accessible to students and the community.
Currently, McMaster students who are not at risk of an overdose are unable to pick up a free naloxone kit anywhere on campus. The pharmacy in the McMaster University Student Centre and Student Wellness Centre do not carry the kit as a result of logistical issues.
McMaster students can pick up a naloxone kit at the Shoppers Drug Mart on Main Street West, but they need to disclose their Ontario Health Insurance Plan number to get one for free.
Students can also get a kit from Hamilton Public Health, but only if they meet the city’s eligibility guidelines, which specify that kits can only be provided to individuals who have experience with opioid use or are at high risk of overdose.
“Eligibility guidelines are in place as a means to ensure that naloxone kits are available for those who are most impacted by overdose,” said Sharalyn Penner-Cloutier, temporary supervisor of harm reduction at Hamilton Public Health.
However, groups on campus have been working to ensure that naloxone is available at the university.
“As a whole, we advocate for the concept of accessible naloxone kits, and having them available on campus to students in addition to EFRT responders would certainly be valuable.”
Sutina Chou
Coordinator
Student Health Education Centre
The McMaster Students Union Emergency First Response Team stocked up on naloxone in September 2017, obtaining both the injection and nasal spray version.
“As of yet, we have not had to administer naloxone but we continue to practice our protocol in the event that we ever encounter an opioid overdose,” said Dunavan Morris-Janzen, EFRT Public Relations Coordinator.
According to Glenn De Caire, director of security and parking, McMaster Security has been working to ensure that security special constables will carry the drug on duty by April 2018.
In November 2017, MSU Student Health Education Centre spearheaded a harm reduction campaign. One of their pillars aimed at educating students on the signs of opiate overdose and where they can pick up a naloxone kit close to the university.
“As a whole, we advocate for the concept of accessible naloxone kits, and having them available on campus to students in addition to EFRT responders would certainly be valuable,” said Sutina Chou, SHEC coordinator.
More recently, on Jan. 22, the McMaster Undergraduate Nursing Student Society hosted a free naloxone training event for nursing students in the Michael DeGroote Centre for Learning and Discovery building.
The event was organized by the MUNSS after Sarah Vance, one of the group’s Education Chairpersons, identified that hundreds students were interested in a naloxone training event hosted by the Mental Health Rights Coalition in Hamilton, which took place on Jan. 24 and was facilitated by Hamilton Public Health.
“After seeing [the high demand for the event], I called Hamilton Public Health and the Harm Reduction Team and was given contact information for Margot Corbin, the Public Health Nurse. This training was free from Public Health,” said Vance.
The MUNSS’s event consisted of a discussion on the opioid epidemic, signs of overdose and how students are able to assist in a civilian capacity.
“The turnout for the event was successful. We had requests for attendance from various faculties such as BScN, RPN to BScN, RPN, and Medicine. We even had requests for attendance from students who did not attend McMaster, Mohawk or Conestoga,” said Vance.
The MUNSS will be hosting another training event on Feb. 26 in MDCL.
Opioid use continues to be on the rise in Hamilton, with our rate of use still being higher that of the province. Nevertheless, campus groups are educating students about naloxone and fighting to end the epidemic.
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Opioid abuse has become a more pressing problem in Hamilton than anywhere else in Ontario. In Aug. 2017 alone, 26 overdose calls were made to 911. Despite these statistics, Hamilton police officers have been barred from administering naloxone, a life-saving anti-opioid drug that counteracts the effects of opioids in the event of an overdose.
The McMaster Students Union, however, has embraced naloxone. In the wake of the opioid crisis gripping Hamilton and campuses across Canada, the MSU Emergency First Response Team has stocked up on the opioid treatment.
On Aug. 25, EFRT was trained to administer naloxone injections to prepare for potential overdoses during Welcome Week.
“Naloxone is a drug that isn’t incredibly dangerous if you’re injected with it when you’re not in an opioid overdose situation, and that’s another reason why our medical director said it would be beneficial to have,” said Samantha Aung, EFRT program director.
On Sept. 15, EFRT obtained the nasal spray version of naloxone. In the event of an overdose, EFRT may administer two nasal spray doses in addition to four injections. EFRT may therefore administer four more doses than the average bystander equipped with a naloxone kit from a pharamacy.
Joining a few other institutions, including Mount Allison University, the University of Alberta and the University of King’s College (Halifax), McMaster has become one of the first Canadian universities to carry naloxone.
At Dalhousie University and the University of British Columbia, students can seek out their own naloxone kit for free. When asked if McMaster should implement this initiative and do more to protect students from the growing opioid crisis, Dunavan Morris-Janzen, EFRT public relations coordinator, said he cannot directly comment on whether or not the university should have naloxone available to students for free pick-up.
EFRT may therefore administer four more doses than the average bystander equipped with a naloxone kit from a pharamacy.
“Students with an Ontario health card can acquire free naloxone kits and the necessary training to administer the drug from Shoppers Drug Mart located across Main Street West.”
Although several other Canadian universities and colleges are considering obtaining naloxone, some have opted not to carry it, primarily because of liability concerns or a lack of demand.
At the University of Ottawa, student leaders were barred from carrying naloxone kits during the university’s frosh week as a result of a liability issue that could emerge in the event of an improper injection.
“Obviously, [treatments with] needles always contain some sort of danger, but I think having the drug in general is a great thing because it does truly help people,” said Aung.
When asked if the University of Ottawa’s liability concern applies to McMaster, Aung stated that since naloxone injections are exclusively administered by EFRT, the university would not be held liable in the event of an improper injection.
“The concern at the University of Ottawa was that, as a civilian population using naloxone, there’s a chance that it’s less safe, and the university assumes that liability if student leaders are administering the drug,” she explained. “For EFRT, we were trained on how to use the needles a little more intensively than you would if you just picked up your own kit at the pharmacy. As well, because we have medical directive behind us, our medical director, in teaching us how to use the drug, assumes that we know how to properly administer it, and when we administer it, it is safe,” Aung said.
As the opioid crisis continues, both the McMaster and Hamilton community continue to develop strategies to combat overdoses and death.
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