For the last 18 months, Ricky Leslie’s been cut off from Suboxone, the prescription medication the federal inmate relied on to keep his withdrawal symptoms of opioid addiction at bay, lessening his chances of yet another overdose.
“They’re making me suffer, they’re putting my life in danger every day,” Leslie said of Correctional Services Canada during an interview with CBC News from Port Cartier Institution, a federal penitentiary in Quebec, where he is currently incarcerated.
Leslie said his attempts at staving off cravings have led him to use illicit substances instead.
“Every time I use or whatever, it might be my last time,” he said.
“That’s not fair for me or my family.”
Leslie is on a wait list for what the CSC calls “opioid agonist treatment,” a catch-all term for medical substances, including Suboxone, that replace opioids to help those with addiction issues.
As of June, he was one of 14 people on the wait list in his prison alone, and across the country, the number of inmates waiting for the potentially life-saving treatment has continued to grow throughout the pandemic.
In the 52 penitentiaries run by the federal government, 494 inmates are on a wait list, an increase from 447 in March, the last month Ottawa publicly posted numbers.
“The longer the wait list you get, the more people that are high risk of a fentanyl overdose,” said Dr. Lori Regenstreif, an assistant clinical professor of family medicine at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ont.
The federal body declined an interview for this story, and would only address general numbers in statements, not Leslie’s situation.
“Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the provision of health services continued,” the CSC said in an emailed statement, “although there has been a need to prioritize services and resources.”
The 50-year-old is from Edmonton, where he was serving his sentence for robbery and assault until the end of July, when CSC transferred him to Quebec.
“I got assaulted by four offenders in Edmonton,” Leslie said. “I wanted to mediate,” but federal authorities decided to move him instead.
The current distance from his loved ones has only exacerbated his addiction problems, he said, which he has been dealing with for decades.
“They’re the ones who support me and are behind me,” he said of his two daughters.
Leslie’s court record shows he has been in and out of the correctional system since 2001, mostly on robbery and assault charges.
He began serving his latest sentence in February 2017. At the time, it took more than a year and a complaint to the Canadian Human Rights Commission to temporarily put him on Suboxone.
According to that document, he had been addicted to opioids since approximately 1997, when he was working on oil rigs in northern Alberta. “I was stabbed by a dirty needle and contracted Hepatitis C,” he wrote. “This seriously affected me mentally and physically.”
He also wrote that he has overdosed approximately four times since then.
Leslie was placed on opioid agonist treatment in November 2018. But in March of last year, he said security guards accused him of “diverting” the Suboxone, which means trading it with other inmates instead of using it. They summarily removed him from treatment.
Leslie denied he ever did that.
“You’re standing in front of an officer and in front of a nurse,” he said. “How are you going to take powder out of your mouth? Wouldn’t it be all over your face? Wouldn’t it be all over your lips?”
Leslie, who is Métis, referred to himself as an Aboriginal offender, and said he was being treated unfairly. “How does a person have to wait that long to get back on Suboxone?” he asked.
CBC spoke to two medical experts who warned it is dangerous to suddenly cut off patients from opioid substitutes.
“The symptoms are pretty debilitating,” said Josh Fanaeian, an emergency physician and addiction specialist in Edmonton.
“It’s almost like the worst flu you can get. Severe sweats, shakes, fever-like symptoms, muscle and bone aches.”
To fight these symptoms, he said patients who are cut off from treatment might try accessing drugs off the street, which could lead to further health issues, including overdoses. “You put a penny into prevention,” he said, “saves a dollar in treatment down the road.”
Regenstreif, who has worked as a physician an Ontario jail, also said that prevention while behind bars would help once an inmate is released into the general public.
“The sooner you set them up for treatment, the better,” Regenstreif said.
Both physicians likened addiction to a chronic disease.
“You wouldn’t fault someone for going on medication if they had diabetes,” Fanaeian said.
For Regenstreif, one problem in the federal penitentiary system is that priorities are set though a correctional lens, instead of public health.
“Once a facility has X amount of funding, are they going to spend it on nurses or are they going to spend it on more correctional officers? I don’t know how they budget,” she said.
Correctional Services Canada cited Ricky Leslie’s human rights complaint in explaining why it could not comment about him.
In its statement, it said the number of patients on opioid agonist treatment increased from 920 in December 2016 to 2,242 in June 2020, with a 21 per cent increase since December 2019.
“Over the past three years, in the context of the Canadian opioid crisis, the demand for treatment has dramatically increased and continues to increase,” according to the CSC’s website.
The federal body also said all decisions related to a prescription of medication are “made by a health care professional.”
CSC did not provide an explanation for exactly why the wait list grew between March and June, other than mentioning COVID-19.
Regenstreif acknowledged the pandemic has made many things more difficult, but said waiting for prescribed medication is not the same as waiting for a hair cut.
“We’re not talking about … an optional thing, we’re talking about an essential service,” she said.
The CSC’s statements also could not explain the regional differences between its penitentiaries.
According to the June 2020 figures, of the 494 inmates on wait lists in Canada, 169 — more than one-third — were in Alberta, and wait list numbers grew more in that province from March to June than in the entire country.
Though the CSC did manage to eliminate wait lists completely for two Alberta locations, the Drumheller Institution and Grierson Centre, the number of Alberta inmates waiting for opioid agonist treatment grew from 118 to 169 over that time.
By contrast, Ontario’s wait list shrunk, from 48 inmates in March to just 20 in June.
As for Ricky Leslie, he enlisted the help of the Alberta Prison Justice Society to try and get him back on Suboxone.
“When he’s released, if he’s treated, he’s less likely to reoffend,” said Kate Engel, a lawyer and the secretary for the society. “If he’s languishing in jail without treatment, that’s going to increase his chances of reoffending.”
The society was urging Correctional Services Canada to put him on Suboxone by Aug. 14. That date has now come and gone, with no sign of when his wait might end.
Source: – CBC.ca
PORT ALBERNI, B.C. – RCMP say the body of a second person has been found inside their vehicle after a road washed away amid pouring rain on the west coast of Vancouver Island.
Police say two vehicles went into the Sarita River when Bamfield Road washed out on Saturday as an atmospheric river hammered southern B.C.
The body of the other driver was found Sunday.
More coming.
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
The B.C. Greens say Sonia Furstenau will be staying on as party leader, despite losing her seat in the legislature in Saturday’s provincial election.
The party says in a statement that its two newly elected MLAs, Jeremy Valeriote and Rob Botterell, support Furstenau’s leadership as they “navigate the prospect of having the balance of power in the legislature.”
Neither the NDP led by Premier David Eby nor the B.C. Conservatives led by John Rustad secured a majority in the election, with two recounts set to take place from Oct. 26 to 28.
Eby says in a news conference that while the election outcome is uncertain, it’s “very likely” that the NDP would need the support of others to pass legislation.
He says he reached out to Furstenau on election night to congratulate her on the Greens’ showing.
But he says the Green party has told the NDP they are “not ready yet” for a conversation about a minority government deal.
The Conservatives went from taking less than two per cent of the vote in 2020 to being elected or leading in 45 ridings, two short of a majority and only one behind the NDP.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 22, 2024.
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
Toronto FC captain Jonathan Osorio is making a difference, 4,175 kilometres away from home.
The 32-year-old Canadian international midfielder, whose parents hail from Colombia, has been working with the Canadian Colombian Children’s Organization, a charity whose goal is to help disadvantaged youth in the South American country.
Osorio has worked behind the scenes, with no fanfare.
Until now, with his benevolence resulting in becoming Toronto FC’s nominee for the Audi Goals Drive Progress Impact Award, which honours an MLS player “who showed outstanding dedication to charitable efforts and serving the community” during the 2024 season.”
Other nominees include Vancouver Whitecaps midfielder Sebastian Berhalter and CF Montreal goalkeeper Jonathan Sirois.
The winner will be announced in late November.
The Canadian Colombian Children’s Organization (CCCO) is run entirely by volunteers like Monica Figueredo and Claudia Soler. Founded in 1991, it received charitable status in 2005.
The charity currently has four projects on the go: two in Medellin and one each in Armenia and Barranquilla.
They include a school, a home for young girls whose parents are addicted to drugs, after-school and weekend programs for children in a disadvantaged neighbourhood, and nutrition and education help for underprivileged youth.
The organization heard about Osorio and was put in contact with him via an intermediary, which led to a lunch meeting. Osorio did his due diligence and soon got back to the charity with his decision.
“It was something that I wanted to be a part of right away,” said Osorio, whose lone regret is that he didn’t get involved sooner.
“I’m fortunate now that to help more now that I could have back then,” he added. “The timing actually worked out for everybody. For the last three years I have donated to their cause and we’ve built a couple of (football) fields in different cities over there in the schools.”
His father visited one of the sites in Armenia close to his hometown.
“He said it was amazing, the kids, how grateful they are to be able to play on any pitch, really,” said Osorio. “But to be playing on a new pitch, they’re just so grateful and so humble.
“It really makes it worth it being part of this organization.”
The collaboration has also made Osorio take stock.
“We’re very fortunate here in Canada, I think, for the most part. Kids get to go to school and have a roof over their head and things like that. In Colombia, it’s not really the same case. My father and his family grew up in tough conditions, so giving back is like giving back to my father.”
Osorio’s help has been a godsend to the charity.
“We were so surprised with how willing he was,” said Soler.
The TFC skipper has helped pay for a football field in Armenia as well as an ambitious sports complex under construction in Barranquilla.
“It’s been great for them,” Figueredo said of the pitch in Armenia. “Because when they go to school, now they have a proper place to train.”
Osorio has also sent videos encouraging the kids to stay active — as well as shipping soccer balls and signed jerseys their way.
“They know more about Jonathan than the other players in Colombia,” Figueredo said. “That’s the funny part. Even though he’s far away, they’ve connected with him.”
“They feel that they have a future, that they can do more,” she added. “Seeing that was really, really great.”
The kids also followed Osorio through the 2022 World Cup and this summer’s Copa America.
Back home, Osorio has also attended the charity’s annual golf tournament, helping raise funds.
A Toronto native, he has long donated four tickets for every TFC home game to the Hospital for Sick Children.
Vancouver’s Berhalter was nominated for his involvement in the Whitecaps’ partnership with B.C. Children’s Hospital while Montreal’s Sirois was chosen for his work with the Montreal Impact Foundation.
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 21, 2024.
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