New Thunder Bay police campaign aims to dispel myths about opioid overdose risks

A new awareness campaign aims to dispel some myths about the risks of opioid overdose for casual drug users.

The Know Your Drugs campaign officially launched Friday in Thunder Bay, an initiative of the city police’s Zone Watch program.

Thunder Bay police media coordinator Scott Paradis said the campaign is specifically aimed at casual drug users, who may believe they’re immune to the risks of opioid overdose because they don’t consume illicit drugs very often, or believe the drugs they are using haven’t been cut with opioids.

“The issue is, you can’t tell,” Paradis said. “You cannot tell the drugs that you are buying have these synthetic opioids in [them]. And even if you are getting synthetic opioids as your drug of choice, there’s no way to test the purity.”

“Two milligrams is all it takes to become a fatal dose, and there’s absolutely no way for a person on the street to measure the purity.”

The centrepiece of the campaign is a series of three videos that Paradis said are intended to educate the public about the dangers of opioids like fentanyl and carfentanil, which are increasingly being found in illicit drugs.

“It’s non-judgemental,” Paradis said about the campaign. “We’re not trying to shame or belittle people who are using. What we want to do is just have this discussion, so these people who are possibly experimenting or considering experimenting can just maybe reconsider their decisions.”

The videos are currently available on the Thunder Bay police Know Your Drugs campaign website, and will air on television in the coming weeks.