A First Nations reserve in southern Alberta has declared a local state of emergency following a surge in overdose deaths from a street drug making its way through the community.
For months, the Blood Tribe has been under siege by the highly addictive street drug Oxy 8o, also called fake oxycodone or OxyNEO.
At least 10 deaths in the community have been linked to the pills in the last six months. The problem is the pills contain fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opiate painkiller that has a high risk of overdose. Blood Tribe Chief Charles Weasel says it was time to call for action.
"Our people are dying, our families are grieving, and it's just been continuous," he tells CTV News.
Physician Dr. Esther Tailfeathers says in the local emergency room, some doctors have had to handle two to three overdoses in one day in which oxy users have had to be resuscitated.
Some residents say the real number of death is probably even higher. Pamela Little Bear says she's already lost a nephew to the drug and knows of others in her family who have used it. She says the drug is easy to obtain on or off the reserve.
The community has been calling for action since the New Year, holding public meetings and warning about the dangers of the pills.
Dr. Tailfeathers has helped the Blood Tribe band council obtain nearly 50 antidote kits filled with naloxone, a medication used to treat opiate overdoses. Paramedics are now being supplied with the kits to help those who ignore the warnings and who overdose on the drug.
Lance Tailfeathers, head of the Blood Tribe’s Health Advisory Committee, says the kits can save lives if the drug is taken quickly.
"When an overdose occurs, there are five minutes to administer it and from that, they have an hour to get to actual medical treatment," he says.
While the kits offer short-term help, band leaders are looking at long-term strategies to prevent addiction. The Blood Tribe Police Service has now formed a special unit to stop the sale of the pills.
Blood Tribe Police Chief Lee Boyd says there are several drug dealers on the reserve who have connections with organized crime. They buy the drug in large quantities and then bring it back to the community.
The police say they are beginning to crack down on the drug operations and that, since a dedicated tip line at oxy@bloodtribepolice.com was established, several charges have been laid, leading to a "significant disruption" of drug activity in the past two months.
Local police also say that the proliferation of gang-related activity on their reserve is a problem not unique to their community. They hope to learn from the experiences of others who have faced similar crises, which they say stem from "deep rooted problems".
With a report from CTV's Janet Dirks
