Front Burner

Overdoses and a small city state of emergency

Paramedics in Belleville, Ont., responded to 13 drug overdoses in just an hour last week. What does it tell us about spikes of overdoses happening across the province?
A man wearing a black hooded jacket and cap stares standing in front of a large, stone church building.
Mike Juby says some of his friends were among the 17 people who overdosed in downtown Belleville on Feb. 6, 2023. (Dan Taekema/CBC)

Last week, paramedics in Belleville, Ont., responded to 13 drug overdoses in a single hour. By the time the city declared a state of emergency two days later, the total had reached almost two dozen. 

So how did these near-simultaneous overdoses unfold? What caused them? And how can we stop the spikes of drug poisonings that have been happening in cities across Ontario? 

Dan Taekema is CBC's reporter covering eastern Ontario communities from Belleville, to Kingston, and beyond. 

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