One local worker says men's mental health must be a focus to help address the toxic drug crisis.

By Tommy Osborne

Men's mental health

Men’s mental health highlighted as key focus following toxic drug death report

Mar 25, 2026 | 5:49 PM

PRINCE GEORGE – A report earlier this month revealed that of the 150 deaths linked to toxic drugs, 80% of those were male. Noah Marquette, a Prince George Community Outreach and Men’s Support Services Worker, believes the disproportionate amount of men impacted by the toxic drug crisis is largely in part due to men’s mental health not being spoken about or addressed properly.

“We tend to not reach out when we need help, we try to carry that burden. As people are trying to uncover that toxic masculinity, we are seeing more of an increase in men talking about their health. Unfortunately, not enough, and especially on that high marginalized level of addicts,” Marquette said.

Marquette’s work spans across several organizations, like the Prince George Regional Correctional Facility, the Pounds Project, the Prince George Sexual Assault Centre, and others, and he says a big part of his work is connecting with men individually and creating a network or dialogue to help change men’s perspectives. He says the “tough guy” mentality of previous generations can be quite detrimental for men’s mental health, creating a mindset where it can be incredibly challenging to discuss your struggles.

“If we are internally struggling, that should not be in silence, but that suffering should be something that we share the weight of. The the cost of not talking about it is really high, opposed to just maybe shedding that wall, breaking down that wall and communicating,” he said.

“Once we open that dialogue, I think we can start to focus on mental health and healing. Without that, we do see an increase in high risk behavior, more at risk activities. If men don’t want to talk about their feelings, they then feel like they can go and use alone or use recklessly because they’re trying to cope with maybe something going on for them inside,” he continued.

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Marquette adds encouraging this type of open dialogue is a critical part of encouraging healing, so he hopes to encourage a culture among men where it can be ok to discuss your problems, or ask for help if needed, as addiction and mental health challenges are often very closely linked.