People are dying in Grey and Bruce from the opioid crisis and the chair of the board of an Owen Sound drop-in centre said it's getting worse.
Safe N Sound's Leon Frisch made the comments as part of a general information presentation to Grey County Council.
"We know of nine people that we buried who were participants at Safe N Sound and died as a result of opioids. I personally had to resuscitate two people. That's something I never anticipated ever having to do in my life," said Frisch.
He said the crisis is not going away.
"The opioid crisis in Grey Bruce is epidemic," he said. "Places like Dundalk, Hanover, Walkerton, Owen Sound, Meaford, Collingwood it's growing exponentially and there doesn't seem to be an end to it."
Frisch said poverty is the problem. Government social programs don't provide nearly enough for low-income people to live and find housing. Homelessness results and drug use often follows.
Safe N Sound helps up 70 people a day at the drop-in centre and has eight beds for emergency housing. Grey County contributes $24,000 a year to help the centre stay afloat.
