Despite perceptions, there hasn’t been a significant reported increase in hospitalizations due to drug usage within the Northern Zone of Nova Scotia.
The biggest change seen over the years is the types of drugs being used, said Dr. Janet Sommers, an emergency medicine physician at the Colchester-East Hants Health Centre.
“With respect to drug intoxication, the types of drugs are definitely varying, and from my own personal experience working in the emergency department, we certainly are seeing changes in the pattern of drug use, but no change in the overall number of presentations,” Sommers said.
She added that there has been an increase in the presence of fentanyl in the supply of drugs in the area, with patients coming into the hospital whether for fentanyl injections or accidental fentanyl injections.
Sommers highlighted that the drug situation, particularly related to opioid use, isn’t at crisis level like it is in other provinces, such as British Columbia, but acknowledged that the supply has changed and that opioids and other kinds of ‘harder’ drugs are making their way into communities they previously weren’t seen before.
“When you're talking about small numbers, it's hard to really see significant changes. What I will say is that in the past, certain communities may not have seen fentanyl ingestion,” she said, adding that there is potential that fentanyl intoxication is happening more in areas where it may not have occurred before.
“I don't want to alarm the public; we're certainly not facing anything like what's happening in B.C., for example, but people who are using drugs just should always be aware of the steps that they should take to use safely,” she added.
Breaking down the numbers
Through a freedom of information request, SaltWire was able to acquire hospitalization statistics in the northern zone due to drug use or overdoses from January to December in 2023.
According to the data, the Aberdeen Hospital had 22 emergency room visits due to overdoses, the Colchester-East Hants Health Centre had 72 emergency room visits, and the Cumberland Regional Health Care Centre had 56 visits.
All Saints Springhill Hospital had no reported visits due to drug overdoses, and both the Lillian Fraser Memorial Hospital and North Cumberland Memorial Hospital had less than five visits, respectively.
The Sutherland Harris Memorial Hospital was not included in the data since the hospital doesn’t have an emergency room, and all overdose cases go to the Aberdeen Hospital.
Of the emergency room visits in the Aberdeen Hospital due to drug overdoses, six were due to poisoning by cannabis or its derivatives, such as edibles and ingestibles. There were eight cases of poisoning by unclassified opioids. Cases of poisoning due to unspecified cannabis ingestion, cocaine, fentanyl and unspecified narcotics were all recorded as less than five, respectively.
For privacy concerns, any situation where less than five patients were admitted or treated is just listed in the data as less than five, not the specific number.
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The Colchester-East Hants Health Centre data wasn’t as specific as data provided by the Aberdeen on the kinds of drugs leading to overdose, with 32 cases just listed as an unspecified overdose, a number of instances of overdoses of over-the-counter medication, and situations of overdose caused by depression or attempted suicide.
Cumberland Regional Health Care Centre’s data was similar to Colchester-East Hants but was a bit more specific in some kinds of overdoses. While there are 29 cases just labelled unspecified overdoses, there were fewer than five reports of overdoses related to cannabis, meth and opioid, respectively.
According to data collected by the Nova Scotia government, 74 people died in Nova Scotia due to acute opioid toxicity. Based on preliminary data, it is estimated that nine people have died in the province due to opioid toxicity in 2024.
Sommers said that one of the drugs that sees people coming into emergency departments the most happens to be cannabis, whether due to poisonings or mental health concerns following consumption of or smoking cannabis products.
“It’s not poisoning in the traditional sense, but we often find that cannabis is at the root of a lot of the mental health presentations that we're seeing, or it's a major contributing factor anyway, and we certainly are seeing patients who come in having unintentionally ingested a larger dose of cannabinoids than they assumed they were,” Sommers said.
Harm reduction
When discussing drug use, Dr. Dave Martell, a family doctor based out of Lunenburg who specializes in people struggling with addiction, stressed that addiction shouldn’t be seen as a moral failing by the individual but as a medical issue.
“Individuals and communities have dealt with addiction kind of as a moral failing for a long time. That still exists in our society. We think people have done these things to themselves when, in fact, this is a behavioural disorder. This is a mental health condition. So, one of the first things that communities can do is come to an understanding or just not judge people because of the behaviors that they have. Look at them as having difficulties that are mental health, that are medical rather than making choices,” said Martell during a phone interview on April 19.
He added that there are challenges to addressing substance use and addiction in rural areas, particularly since communities are smaller, and having services near to people can be a challenge.
Virtual care has helped a lot in providing these services, although he said internet reliability and cell service are still challenging in some areas. He added that access to ambulances and emergency care in rural areas is also a concern.
“The other is that just the dangers associated with substance use don't spare people in rural areas. Emergency responses can be more challenging,” he said. “Responding to things that happen suddenly - it's more difficult; transportation is more difficult.”
When asked what people can do to keep themselves safe when using drugs, both Martell and Sommers gave the same advice: never use alone, keep a naloxone kit on hand and test the substance in a small amount to ensure it’s not contaminated.
Martell added that humanizing those with addictions will go a long way in supporting individuals who use drugs.
“We have this misconception that a person who has a substance use problem is unhoused or is unclean. We have these stigmatizing images in our minds, probably from movies and TV, but all parts of society are affected by addiction,” he said. “It’s not an other; it’s not a them.”
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