The founder and executive director of a shelter in Moncton is sounding the alarm on the increase in crystal meth use.
“It is the most difficult drug we’ve ever encountered,” Cal Maskery of Harvest House Atlantic tells Global News. “I don’t think anybody knows what to do. You take them to the hospital, they can’t wait four or five hours to be treated, so they leave.”
Maskery says there’s been at least “several” deaths in the city since last summer.
RCMP officers and Ambulance New Brunswick paramedics were at the shelter Thursday morning, putting someone — who Maskery says was high on crystal meth — in the back of a police cruiser.
READ MORE: Emergence of crystal meth use in N.B. ‘very concerning,’ says Ensemble Greater Moncton
He says Thursday’s call was to have the person removed, but added no violence led to police response.
“Sometimes there’s violence,” he says. “Chairs are being thrown, staplers, whatever they’ve got in their hand.”
The increase, reported by Horizon Health Network at least in the Moncton area, has health officials on high alert.
“It’s very concerning,” says Wendy McGrath LeBlanc, a registered nurse who works at the clinic that houses Moncton’s detox centre. “We find that those patients go downhill pretty quickly. They start to lose their homes, their family, businesses, money.”
Maskery says lives are also being lost as a result of the drug problem that is “getting worse.”
“Since last summer, there’s been several deaths that we are aware of,” Maskery says.
Get breaking National news
“We haven’t peaked yet. We know it’s getting worse in our community. How to handle it? Nobody really knows, because you can’t talk to anybody when they’re on (crystal meth).”
Charles Léger, chair of the Codiac Regional Policing Authority and city councillor, says the increase is largely due to the “transient population.”
“There’s no question that more enforcement is needed, certainly in terms of curbing the availability of crystal meth,” Léger says.
He says the force does have enough officers to keep citizens safe, but says the incoming hires for 2020, 2021 and 2022, will help ease the workload for officers when others are off for a variety of matters.
READ MORE: Man arrested after police dismantle suspected drug lab in Moncton
Other measures that can be taken include more lighting and cameras throughout the city to assist police, he says.
But Léger is optimistic about Rising Tides Community Initiatives Inc, a newly-formed housing authority in the city that will be looking to acquire affordable housing.
“The number one factor is housing,” Léger says.
Gino Mallais, a program manager for addictions services with Vitalité Health Network in Campbellton, says it’s more of an issue in urban centres in southern New Brunswick.
“In Moncton, Fredericton, Saint John, and we’ve also heard up to Miramichi,” he says. “We don’t have an increase in crystal meth clients (in the northern region).”
After telling Global News Wednesday there’s been an increase of up to 35 per cent in random urine samples testing positive for crystal meth at the detox building in Moncton, Horizon Health wasn’t able to provide province-wide statistics Thursday.
READ MORE: 14 kilograms of meth, prohibited weapons seized as part of August drug raids in N.B.: RCMP
Moncton mayor Dawn Arnold again acknowledged social issues being a concern at the State of the Tri-Communities breakfast Thursday.
“This is addictions, it’s mental health, it’s affordable housing,” she told reporters. “All of it together is a complex issue. We are on it, and our RCMP is taking it very seriously.”
But Maskery is hoping for a solution as soon as possible.
“It’s a nightmare,” he says. “It’s an absolute nightmare.”
Comments