After 19-year-old Archie MacIsaac-Vacon died June 29th at a bar in downtown Montreal, his parents demanded change.
“The policy we have around drugs is not working,” Archie’s mother Charlene Vacon told Global News July 31st. “My son is dead.”
A bag of white powder was found on her son, and police told his parents it contained traces of fentanyl.
Archie is not the only Montrealer to have fallen victim to fentanyl this year. According to Montreal public health doctor Carole Morissette, a doctor with Montreal Public Health, there is one death per month in the city related to fentanyl.
“One death is one too much,” said Morissette.
Vacon told Global News she wished testing strips were more readily available.
“I’m asking public health to step up a bit,” she said on Wednesday.
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“We started to distribute these strips in community organizations since last year,” explained Morissette. “We’ve distributed more than 10,000 of those strips.”
Morissette also says naloxone, the so-called opioid overdose antidote, is more accessible in Montreal than ever.
“In Montreal, we have about 150 places naloxone is available right now. That includes pharmacies and 15 community organizations,” she said, adding the drug is available at nearly every pharmacy in Quebec, and is free for anyone over 14 years old.
Archie’s parents also called for naloxone to be made available at bars, which Morissette agreed is a good idea.
“Everywhere there’s use of drugs should have a naloxone kit not too far,” she said.
Steve Siozios, the head of the Crescent Street Merchants’ Association, said bar owners want to be part of the solution.
“Bar owners are ready,” he told Global News. “We’re ready. Crescent merchants would be willing to coordinate.”
WATCH: (June 13, 2019) Montreal first responders given naloxone kits
However, he has concerns. Though naloxone kits distributed at pharmacies come with in-person training and instructions, Siozios wonders how that would work during the chaotic peak hours at a bar.
“Now I’m going to have some busboy or waitress who came up on a person run, get the kit and start reading instructions?” he wondered.
He also pointed to bars having high turnover rates.
“That kind of turnover requires resources that keep re-training, whether it be a monthly, bi-monthly, bi-annual basis,” Siozios said.
Morissette said people should not do drugs alone, in case someone needs to call 911 . She insists no drug sold on the street is safe.
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