Although Quebec spends $15 million annually to provide substance abuse prevention sessions in secondary schools, about one in eight schools does not offer the service. says a recent report, despite the dangers associated with the opioid crisis affecting the entire country.
“I can confirm to you that some schools do not have prevention services and that is not an acceptable situation,” said Vincent Marcoux, director general of the Quebec Association of Dependency Intervention Centers (AQCID), in an interview with Radio-Canada at the start of the report.
Nevertheless, the AQCID is pleased with the use of this program, launched in 2019, which made it possible to raise the awareness of 364,000 secondary school students through almost 16,000 workshops. Specialist speakers travel one to five times a week to meet the students, discuss the topic and build a trusting relationship with them.
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Vincent Marcoux is the general director of the Quebec Association of Addiction Intervention Centers.
Photo: Radio-Canada
At the end of a three-week survey of various stakeholders in Quebec, the AQCID counted 93 schools that do not offer this prevention service. By extrapolating schools that did not respond to the survey, the association calculated that 20% of institutions do not participate in the program.
Within our organization we do not have cancellations from schools, but rather discomfort or questions about the intervention. “It is a topic that is still very taboo,” emphasizes Marie-Éve Duquette, clinical coordinator at Cumulus, which works in around 70 facilities on the island of Montreal.
There are still people who think that talking about consumption is like talking about it [y] complied with.
However, this type of training saves lives. Speak to Thomas Roberge, 16, who studies at a private college in Granby. At the end of January, he had the bright idea of getting a free naloxone kit from the pharmacy “just in case” before a party.
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Naloxone is usually administered into the thigh or shoulder and can even be administered through clothing.
Photo: St John Ambulance
This was good for him because as he was getting some fresh air he came across a young woman in her 20s who was in pretty bad shape and quickly went into cardiac arrest. Thanks to naloxone, he was able to revive her.
The doctors told her that they were almost 100% sure that I saved her life and that she might not have made it without the naloxone.
Three key players at the heart of the program
Currently, it is the Department of Health and Human Services that allocates budgets to the various regional health authorities, which in turn select the organizations responsible for prevention. The latter then contact the schools to suggest interventions. The program therefore does not have a standard model that applies everywhere.
Elyse Allard's report
Asked on Sunday to comment on the lack of this program in several secondary schools in Quebec, Education Minister Bernard Drainville stressed that his room for maneuver is limited since this initiative does not fall within his competence. However, he recognized that addiction and drug use are societal problems and invited the three actors at the center of the program to work hand in hand.
I invite schools where the program is not implemented to communicate with them [directions de la] regional public health […] And to see how this program could be implemented in your school, I invite you [directions de la] Health [publique] regional authorities to do the same. As for the organizations spreading the message to young people who regret that many secondary schools have not adopted this program, Mr Drainville said he understands their frustration and encourages them to keep pushing. “I have no problem with that, on the contrary,” he added.
The opioid crisis behind the scenes
“Every region, every school environment gets what it needs without pursuing the entire spectrum of interventions,” regrets Vincent Marcoux. According to him, the prevention continuum offered to schools should be uniform and mandatory in order to maximize the potential benefits of this type of intervention, especially given that the opioid crisis is raging across the country and is the leading cause of death among adolescents in Western Canada.
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Photos of victims were placed side by side during a tribute in Vancouver on International Overdose Awareness Day, August 31, 2023.
Photo: Radio-Canada / Ben Nelms
“More and more medications contain fentanyl or opioids, and teens are less aware of the dangers and, more importantly, less willing to seek help when they have a problem,” says Eva Moore, an adolescent pediatrician at BC Children’s Hospital.
Ms Moore says she is seeing more and more young people aged 12 to 16 dying from overdoses. Last August, the Canadian Pediatric Society found that one in 10 pediatricians had treated a teenager suffering from a serious or life-threatening overdose in the previous 24 months. And that doesn't count those treated by other health care professionals.
And the SQDC’s cannabis money?
The AQCID also mentions funding problems in its report. For example, the annual amount of $15 million was linked to inflation, but only two regions would have helped local organizations.
Mr. Marcoux also makes a major accusation against the government: the funds of the Société québécoise du Cannabis [100Â millions de dollars] should focus entirely on prevention in schools, but also in CEGEP and at universities. Nevertheless, 50% of this amount goes to the Ministry of Public Security and Justice.
With information from Elyse Allard