1708894147 Syringes condoms and chicken broth

Syringes, condoms and chicken broth

It's almost 11 p.m. In the premises of the organization L'Anonyme in the east of Montreal, the emergency teams are preparing for their night shift.

With a gray hat on his head, a ponytail and a cross-shaped earring, speaker Michael Engelmann heats water to offer coffee, hot chocolate and chicken broth to those boarding the organization's bus.

A converted school bus used to distribute injection, inhalation or protective equipment and which is also a place for psychosocial intervention.

Your colleague Laurianne Tremblay accepts messages left by users, as we call those who use the Services. Since the pandemic, workers have been on-call as required.

In the small warehouse, the two workers then prepare the equipment for the night.

We distribute boxes of syringes, bottles of water, tourniquets, tubes called Pyrex for crack, and crystal pipes. There is also protective equipment, condoms and lubricants.

People take different drugs, but especially crack, crystal meth or fentanyl, says Michael.

Meet users

Laurianne Tremblay drives the bus.

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Speaker Laurianne Tremblay drives the L'Anonyme bus to offer safe consumer materials.

Photo: Radio-Canada / Karine Mateu

Laurianne sits behind the big steering wheel of the bus. The engine roars and off we go! The 24-year-old sexology graduate will be driving this evening so Michael can answer my questions.

At the age of 32, he studied psychology before working for L'Anonyme. It took me three years to complete my PhD, but I wanted to be more in the game! says someone who does their work with passion.

The first stop is on a commercial street. It is a grizzled man in his fifties who enters the bus. While Laurianne prepares the numerous boxes with the syringes he requested, Michael chats with him.

Do you need a Nalox kit? Any tests? the speaker asks him.

He wants to know if the user needs a naloxone kit, a drug that temporarily reverses the effects of an opioid overdose, and if they have test strips to detect the presence of fentanyl in the drug. Workers distribute them to users to prevent overdoses.

The man rejects the offer. He already has it all at home and assures us that there isn't too much fentanyl in the neighborhood. It's a good thing! We don't really like it here! he said.

At L'Anonyme we only ask for users' initials and date of birth. “It was my birthday a few days ago,” JC said spontaneously. Without hesitation, everyone wishes him a happy birthday. He smiles and leaves with garbage bags full of injection equipment.

In the heat of the bus

Michael Engelmann is on the phone on the bus.

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The speakers Laurianne Tremblay and Michael Engelmann in conversation with users of the L'Anonyme bus.

Photo: Radio-Canada / Karine Mateu

Here we go again! Two women arranged to meet the workers in another part of the city. They get on the bus and sit down. You no longer have an apartment. That night they sleep in the hotel, a room paid for by a customer.

It's not because we don't want to work, it's because it's dead everywhere! said one of them.

Without shame, they say that they no longer have customers because, in their opinion, prostitution is less popular after the holiday season and in times of inflation.

The world has less budget, vacations are expensive. Also economic life. “There are a lot of customers who ask: Can you do this cheaper for me?” said the woman in the furry brown coat.

Others ask: Can I give you $40 instead of $60 for a 15-minute blow job? Honestly, if you go to the grocery store and your bread costs $3.60, do you ask the guy if you can give him three piass? the other protests.

The two women, who have not left each other for several years, wander from city to city as needed. They are preparing to leave for Fermont in the coming days. You would like to stop using, but it's not easy.

Some days things go well, we have money. The next day you have nothing to eat. Crack is the devil's drug! supports the most energetic.

For now, they came to get tubes and lube while they sipped chicken broth.

It's good for us! We feel comfortable here. We don't feel judged, it's like home, it's friendly.

Michael Engelmann distributes consumer materials to a user.

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Speaker Michael Engelmann distributes consumer materials to a user.

Photo: Radio-Canada / Karine Mateu

Damage limitation

The phone didn't ring that night. The list of users who want equipment is growing.

Last night a user called several times. He wants to consume with clean materials and judges that the bus doesn't arrive fast enough. He is missing, the two speakers explain to me, who have to adapt to such a situation without fear for their safety.

Every time the interventions are carried out with respect and compassion. The aim is not to persuade users to stop using, but rather to adopt a harm reduction approach, i.e. minimizing the negative consequences of drug use or sex work.

A work that is not always well understood. I have received comments that we are encouraging people to consume. The more material you give away, the more people will consume and overdose. So it's about deconstructing mentalities. “We have recycling bins, so there are fewer syringes on the streets and fewer transmitted diseases,” defends Michael.

Distribution of consumer materials on the L'Anonyme bus.

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Distribution of consumer materials on the L'Anonyme bus.

Photo: Radio-Canada / Karine Mateu

The organization even saves lives, the spokesman adds. He uses the example of a woman who, while overdosing, was heading toward the bus she recognized. It was last year, Michael had just been hired.

She collapsed in front of the bus. We took the oxygen tank, ventilated him and gave him, I think, naloxone. The person survived. What really struck me was that she came to look at the bus in a moment of complete desperation, he says.

It was around 3:30 a.m. when a woman and her dog boarded the bus. She needs condoms and tubes for her crack use.

Drawers full of condoms labeled “tight,” “flavor.”

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Distribution of condoms by workers on board the L'Anonyme bus.

Photo: Radio-Canada / Karine Mateu

On this cold winter night, she happily accepts chicken broth. Discussion is easy with this woman who loves her pet unconditionally.

I can't imagine when he will die. This is my love baby. Mama's love, baby! the woman said lovingly to her dog.

Michael accompanies her to the end of the bus because her knees hurt. She then disappears into one of the apartments on a dimly lit city street.

Michael Engelmann prepares to get off the bus.

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The speaker Michael Engelmann accompanies a user.

Photo: Radio-Canada / Karine Mateu

When the engine starts rumbling again, he is supposed to drop me off at the office. Michael and Laurianne take the opportunity to take a short break before setting off again… There are still many users to be served before the end of the night.

The Public Health Agency of Canada recorded nearly 41,000 deaths in the country between January 2016 and June 2023 that appeared to be related to opioid poisoning. Most of the deaths occurred in British Columbia, Alberta and Ontario, but other provinces have not been spared.