Stephanie Bagri (left) and Cianthelle Amistad (right) say they have been learning a lot about the toxic drug crisis and how it impacts the community in Nanaimo and at VIU. Photo: Lauryn Mackenzie / CHLY 101.7fm

As many new and returning students are settling into campus life at Vancouver Island University, students through the campus health and wellness centre want to educate students to make sure they know the impacts of the ongoing toxic drug crisis.

Stephanie Bagri and Cianthelle Amistad are two 4th-year nursing students at Vancouver Island University. In their studies, they have been learning a lot about the toxic drug crisis and how it impacts the community in Nanaimo and at VIU.

Bagri said that university students are at a very vulnerable age for substance use. Photo: Lauryn Mackenzie / CHLY 101.7fm

“This year alone, there's been like 915 unregulated drug deaths, and out of all of those, 104 of them are between the ages of 19 and 29, so that's about the university age,” Amistad said. “So the more people we have trained here, I think the safer the community can be, and we can all make a difference, and save a life.”

Knowing the importance of education, Amistad and Bagri have started volunteering to offer a short-form version of Naloxone training at school events through the VIU Health and Wellness Centre.

CHLY met with them as they were offering the free training and education at the VIU Students' Union back-to-school FROSH concert held on campus Thursday night.

Amistad said offering harm reduction on campus will teach students how to be more prepared in the case of an overdose.

“Harm reduction itself can seem like a very intimidating topic and overwhelming, and there's a lot of learning to do,” Amistad said. “Me, myself, I'm just getting into the topic and learning about it. I feel like it may not seem like you're doing a large part or learning a lot, but just engaging with the topic in itself and gaining that information is just helping destigmatize the topic overall.”

Bagri said that university students are at a very vulnerable age for substance use.

Amistad demonstrates how to remove the air from a syringe before administering the Naloxone to someone. Photo: Lauryn Mackenzie / CHLY 101.7fm

“Whether they're legal or illicit, substance use is going to happen, especially with university students. They're entering new environments–a lot of the time, meeting new friends, and they're going to be more likely to be experimenting with things,” Bagri said. “So it's important for them to be able to know how to do or use substances safely, and that comes along with knowing how to administer Naloxone.”

Bagri said that while people cannot control whether or not other people will use drugs, people can still reduce harm and control how they react in the community.

“Stigma acts as a big barrier to helping those who use substances,” Bagri said. “So I think getting to be more familiar with harm reduction can definitely help build a stronger, more compassionate community.”

As a registered nurse and harm reduction advocate, Sarah Lovegrove has seen firsthand how harm reduction can save lives. As a nursing professor at VIU, she said harm reduction training at a university or college is one of the most important spaces to offer the training.

An interested student gets trained on how to administer Naloxone. Photo: Lauryn Mackenzie / CHLY 101.7fm

“I think it's one of the most important spaces to be able to offer Naloxone training, because in university, young people are experimenting,” Lovegrove said. “They're exploring who they are, and oftentimes that comes with engaging in altered states of consciousness, utilizing substances, and that goes far beyond alcohol.”

She warned that in recent years, the toxic drug crisis has made all illicit drugs unpredictable in terms of its potency and content, and that young people need to understand what they could potentially be getting into.

“This is really starting their journey from a safety lens and from a place of understanding that risks are possible,” she said. “A lot of prohibition narratives around that teach people that drugs are bad, ‘don't do drugs,’ but then they leave home, they enter university, and they start going to parties, and realize that a lot of people are experimenting with substances, but they don't have the education between not using and potentially using for the first time, what the risks really are in that.”

Lovegrove co-created the VIU Harm Reduction Alliance at the university three years ago to create conversation around the toxic drug crisis and harm reduction.

Bagri (left) and Amistad (right) demonstrate how to break the top of the ampoule of Naloxone. Photo: Lauryn Mackenzie / CHLY 101.7fm

The Harm Reduction Alliance has been tabling at various back-to-school events this year, and Lovegrove said they have been hearing a lot from students. She said while some students may not be ready to learn about harm reduction or take Naloxone training, there are some who get excited knowing this education is being offered on campus.

“There are also some students who come with such enthusiasm and so much gratitude around this being offered on campus because they know their risks; they've lost friends, they've lost family, and they don't know how to obtain this training and these resources elsewhere,” she said.

Lovegrove said it is important for students who are using substances or may want to experiment with substances for the first time, that more than ever, substances that are not directly from a pharmacy are likely to be contaminated and in need of testing.

“So being aware is really important. Taking a moment between being offered and taking and saying, ‘what is in this? What do I know about this drug? What do I know about the source? Do I trust the source?’” she said. “If the answer is ‘I don't know’ or ‘no’ to any of those questions, it's not a just say ‘no’ situation, but it's also just an invitation to explore services.”

Drug testing can be done at the Nanaimo Overdose Prevention Site at 250 Albert Street. As well, fentanyl testing strips can be found at the campus Health and Wellness Centre.

Lovegrove highlighted the story of 18-year-old Sidney McIntyre-Starko, who died of an accidental fentanyl poisoning in her dorm room at the University of Victoria in January 2024.

Amistad explains how nasal Naloxone can be administered to someone having an overdose. Photo: Lauryn Mackenzie / CHLY 101.7fm

Sidney’s friends and family called on the university for what they said could have been a preventable death if Sidney or her friends had access to Naloxone that night. An external review of the night found that campus security, after arriving, waited nine minutes to administer the life-saving Naloxone and waited 12 minutes to start CPR.

While in the past, the VIU Harm Reduction Alliance offered free Naloxone training through Island Health for the campus, this year, VIU has worked with the alliance to take on facilitating the training through its health and wellness centre.

Naloxone kits can be found at the VIU Health and Wellness Centre in Building 200, on the 3rd floor. Nasal Naloxone kits are placed across the campus next to defibrillators and first aid kits in case of an on-campus overdose.

The VIU Health and Wellness Centre will offer a two-hour Naloxone training for the VIU community on Friday, September 26, from noon to 2:00 p.m. in building 210. Registration for the training can be found on their Eventbrite.

Funding Note: This story was produced with funding support from the Local Journalism Initiative, administered by the Community Radio Fund of Canada.