London police are looking for a person reported to be driving around the city’s core and allegedly handing out drugs to people who’ve subsequently overdosed after consuming them.
Police said so far overdoses have not been fatal, but a spate of calls for people in medical distress began at around 11:15 a.m. Wednesday.
Witnesses told police a driver was approaching people and handing out a free substance. Police have not yet released a description of the suspect or the type of vehicle they were driving.
Chris Moss is executive director with London Cares, an agency that provides outreach services for London’s unhoused population.
Moss said word about the overdoses spread quickly, triggering alerts to multiple agencies that support street-involved people. She was alerted to the problem when she saw staff running through London Cares offices at 602 Queens Ave.
“Sadly we just find out because people literally start dropping on our front lawn,” said Moss. She began to hear reports that a man was driving around downtown handing out a yellow pill to people.
“He was giving it out for free and it was very, very toxic,” said Moss. “Our staff was very busy doing CPR.”
Moss said when news breaks that toxic drugs are circulating in the street supply of illegal drugs, there is a coordinated response among police and agencies that provide services for street-involved people.
An alert posted by Regional HIV/AIDS Connection, which operates London’s supervised drug use site, warned people that the overdoses are reported to be linked to yellow-coloured fentanyl pills.
Regional HIV/AIDS Connection also posted a list of signs to watch for in cases where a toxic overdose is suspected:
In a statement to CBC News, London Health Sciences (LHSC), which operates the city’s two largest hospitals, confirmed they activated a Code Orange in response to people being sent to hospital with “non-fatal drug overdoses.”
A code orange is an hospital emergency that requires staff to be shifted from regular duties to care for an increase in incoming patients.
LHSC said they could not release details about the number of people affected.
“While we understand that incidents necessitating this form of response may be unsettling, we want to assure you team LHSC stands ready to respond to the community’s needs,” the statement said.
Police are urging people not to ingest drugs that may have come from an uncertain source, and if approached, to contact them.
They’re also looking for information from the public, including dash cam footage and residential or business surveillance video from downtown, to help with the investigation.
Moss said she did not have firm numbers about the number of people affected but said it was likely at least seven. Members of her team were outside in the downtown core Wednesday working to actively alert people who may not have heard that toxic drugs were circulating.
While it’s disturbing, Moss said it’s not unprecedented for someone to try and harm people by intentionally handing out drugs they know to be toxic.
“Sadly it does happen,” she said.
“There are a lot of people that do have the desire to harm people who are unhoused. People who are unhoused and using substances are some of the most vulnerable people in our community.”
