Rally to protest drugrelated deaths at Thorold detention centre

The growing problem of drug-related deaths inside Ontario's detention centres and jails will be the focus of a rally in Thorold today.

Family members and supporters of inmates who have died at detention centres in Niagara, Hamilton and London have scheduled a rally outside the Niagara Detention Centre at 2 p.m.

There have been similar protests at the Hamilton-Wentworth Detention Centre and the Elgin-Middlesex Detention Centre in London.

Heidi Nagy's 32-year-old son David Crowe died at the Thorold jail in January last year.

She tells CKTB he needed medical attention but didn't get it.  

Nagy says her son "suffered for two-and-a-half days" and is calling for  change and justice.

A coroner's report says Crowe died from ‘drug toxicity’ while at the detention centre.

Crowe was one of  two drug-related deaths at the Niagara Detention Centre in Thorold in 2018.

There have been eight possible opioid overdose calls at Hamilton-Wentworth Detention Centre this year.