Kuujjuaq confronts rise of hard drugs in community
Community members propose solutions ranging from airport searches to more activities for youths
Kuujjuaq municipal councillors Joseph Snowball, left, Tiivi Dupuis, Claude Gadbois, Mayor Mary Johannes, and Larry Watt held a town hall meeting Wednesday to deal with drugs in the community. (Photo by Dominique Gené)
Kuujjuaq residents share their experiences and perspectives about drugs in the community at a town hall meeting Wednesday evening. (Photo by Dominique Gené)
Kuujjuaq council held a town hall meeting Wednesday evening to confront the rise of drugs in the community and how it’s impacting youths and families.
Crack cocaine — an impure form of cocaine that is smoked instead of snorted — and the highly addictive stimulant crystal methamphetamine have made their way into Nunavik from southern Quebec, the Nunavik Regional Board of Health and Social Services said in a news release Monday.
Crack cocaine was almost absent in the region more than two years ago but it can now be found in all communities. Crystal meth started circulating this year and is present in some communities in Nunavik, the release said.
“The rate of drug and addiction is too high and it’s impacting our community,” said Kuujjuaq Coun. Larry Watt, in Inuktitut through an interpreter.
“As a community, we are taking the responsibility to respond and offer solutions.”
About 30 residents attended the meeting, in addition to councillors and staff.
Some residents have reported finding discarded drug injection syringes in the community, and of witnessing an overdose.
The Nunavik Police Service arrested six people last week in Kuujjuaq for drug trafficking, Sgt. Yanik Hardy said at the meeting. One of the suspects comes from the southern part of the region.
“We’re working hard to eradicate hard drugs in Nunavik,” Hardy said, adding that tips from the community are crucial in making drug busts.
The health board has launched a campaign to inform Nunavimmiut about the way crack cocaine and crystal meth use affects their health.
These drugs can lead to anxiety, paranoia, chest pain, heart and brain damage, and an increased risk of overdose and death. Pregnant women may miscarry, deliver prematurely or face life-threatening risks for themselves and their baby, the health board website said.
Some ideas shared at the meeting included creating measures to control drug arrivals in the region, such as conducting airport searches and criminal background checks on out-of-community workers.
There is also a need for more recreational activities for young people to support drug-use prevention and help manage stress, some said.
Others called for people to be banned from the community in order to address the growing drug crisis.
“It’s our land. We shouldn’t have to put up with this,” said Kuujjuaq resident Harvey Mesher, in Inuktitut.
Coun. Claude Gadbois said there are legal frameworks restricting Inuit from evicting people from their communities.
“It’s a shame that we have to follow these laws and we can’t take matters into our own hands,” he said.
In many First Nations communities, band councils banish members involved in drug trafficking or violence and those who refuse to seek treatment for addiction.
The council invited residents and organizations to be part of a community task group to work on prevention and safety initiatives.
The next town hall meeting is set to take place in 2026. A specific date has yet to be determined.
The greater the induced euphoria or escape one attains from it, the more one wants to repeat the experience; and the more intolerable one finds their non-self-medicating reality, the more pleasurable that escape will likely be perceived. In other words: the greater one’s mental pain or trauma while not self-medicating, the greater the need for escape from one’s reality — all the more addictive the euphoric escape-form will likely be.
Frequently societally overlooked or ignored is that intense addiction usually does not originate from a bout of boredom, where a person occasionally consumed recreationally but became heavily hooked on a self-medicating substance that eventually destroyed their life and even those of loved-ones.
Especially when the substance abuse is due to past formidable mental trauma, the lasting solitarily-suffered turmoil can readily make each day an ordeal unless the traumatized mind is medicated. And, too often the worth(lessness) of the substance abuser is measured basically by their ‘productivity’ or lack thereof. Aware of this, they may then begin perceiving themselves as worthless and accordingly live and self-medicate their daily lives more haphazardly.
Decades ago, I, while sympathetic, would look down on those who had ‘allowed’ themselves to become addicted to hard drugs or alcohol. Although I’ve not been personally or familially affected by the opioid overdose crisis, I suffer enough unrelenting PTSD symptoms (etcetera) to know, enjoy and appreciate the great release by consuming alcohol or THC.
In the book (WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU? Conversations on Trauma, Resilience and Healing) he co-authored with Oprah Winfrey, Dr. Bruce D. Perry (M.D., Ph.D.) writes in regards to self-medicating trauma, substance abuse and addiction: “For people who are pretty well-regulated, whose basic needs have been met, who have other healthy forms of reward, taking a drug will have some impact, but the pull to come back and use again and again is not as powerful. It may be a pleasurable feeling, but you’re not necessarily going to become addicted. Addiction is complex. But I believe that many people who struggle with drug and alcohol abuse are actually trying to self-medicate due to their developmental histories of adversity and trauma.”
Although people should not be ashamed of their substance addiction, they also should not give in to it by completely giving up on any potential for eventual sobriety or perhaps a reduction in their consumption of the health-hazardous substance.
Finally getting a town discussion about the hard drugs going. Gotta continue on this.
We also need to think about the soft drugs. The affect of daily marijuana use. Sure marijuana is legal but that doesn’t mean you need to be smokin that joint at every chance. Tiring and dangerous to be around those “hunters” puffin’ the ganja all the time.
Sad to think about the state of the north in 5 years with all the crack and meth flowing around contaminating people.
Im glad to hear that Harvey Mesher is now able to communicate in Inuktitut. This is certainly a step in the right direction for the betterment of the community. This ability will allow him to become the voice that was missing
I welcome the discussion on hard illegal drugs, although it should have included legal substances such as alcohol, marijuana which are two of the largest problems in the north in the 18 years I worked there. The meetings, conversations are a start, keep it going, come up with solutions and implement them.
The discussions did include this.
So good to hear direction from those who stopped by for work in Nunavik (and are now gone), as it was pointed out , “outsiders” exacerbate the issue.
East Hastings Street, Vancouver BC
Methadone Alley, Fort Chimo NV
Those of us with concern for our collective well being know it is a huge issue, the increasing amount and strength of drugs, the harm it is causing, even to and in the smallest villages. Councils and committees, individuals need to work together, to let everyone know it is unacceptable, to make the noise and let it be heard, that it not become a normal, accepted part of life. Think of the new generation, of the care, love and support needed. Imagine for a minute how difficult their lives are in many instances. We can do better.
Glad to see you guys are trying to do something about this, here in Nunavut we pretend everything is fine and brush these things under the rug, our GN won’t lift a finger to do anything about it let alone have community consultations on this serious issues we are facing today, it only seems to be getting worse.