The overdose death of one person has led to another warning of drug poisoning in the region.
Grey Bruce Public Health says there have now been 15 overdoses reported in the last 10 days, one of which was fatal.
Pink and blue fentanyl is the substance believed to be responsible for the majority of the overdoses, but the Health Unit warns that it is showing up in unexpected places.
GBPH says it is observing a concerning trend of crystal meth that appears to be contaminated with opioids, after reports of people using presumed meth and exhibiting signs of an opioid overdose. The Health Unit says those overdoes were reversed with naloxone.
"We would like to express our sincere condolences to the loved ones of the individual who died as a result of a recent drug poisoning in our area," says Monica Blair, Manager of GBPH’s Harm Reduction Program. "Our thoughts are also with those who have been impacted by this recent series of non-fatal overdoses. We are encouraging people who use unregulated drugs to use drug test kits in conjunction with other harm reduction strategies. Test kits for fentanyl, benzodiazepines, and xylazine are available from Public Health and several community partners, including Safe ‘n Sound, SOS, and the South East Grey Community Health Centre."
Other harm reduction recommendations include taking extra caution if mixing drugs, going slow, using only new supplies and avoid sharing supplies, getting overdose prevention training and carrying a Naloxone kit, and never using alone.
The Health Unit sent out several alerts last week, the final coming on Thursday, after seven overdoses occurred in six days.