Amidst a global reckoning around the unregulated sale of sodium nitrite online for the purpose of suicide, Peel Region is reporting a 10 per cent increase in calls “involving either attempted suicide or suicide” in 2023 compared to the same period in 2022.
The uptick in suicide calls, which police say could also be attributable to a new internal coding protocol, comes at a time when police forces around the world are looking closely at recent suicides due to the sale and distribution of sodium nitrite. Sodium nitrite is a potentially lethal substance with legal applications as a meat preservative, but the compound can be deadly if ingested even in small amounts.
According to police, a crisis support worker will typically take the lead on MCRRT visits, relaying their findings to the officer as needed. Patrol officers attend mental health calls on their own only if the MCRRT is not available. One site user, who spoke with CP24 on the condition of anonymity, says they received two consecutive suicide checks from a police force within Ontario in the weeks following Law’s arrest. The source did not confirm if they reside in Peel Region or elsewhere in the province.
“By then I was physically sick. Shaking. Sweats. Nausea. Anxiety sky-high,” the source continued. “Living with a mental illness is like riding a wave. It takes a lot of energy and concentration to stay on that surf board and it doesn’t take much to kick you off into the cold water. The wellness checks definitely threw me off mine.”
Andrea Westbrook, manager of the Toronto Community Crisis Service, told CP24 that TCCS strives to reduce stigma and reduce “any unnecessary police involvement” in wellness checks when possible.
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