About 30 online participants and many speakers from Penticton gathered Wednesday, April 14 at Gyro bandshell in an emotional online vigil to remember the lives lost during B.C.乌鸦传媒檚 ongoing opioid crisis and to call on the provincial government to prevent more lives being lost.
Speakers at Wednesday乌鸦传媒檚 vigil included moms who have lost children to overdose, active drug users as well as those in recovery.
Wednesday marked the fifth anniversary of the day B.C. declared a public health emergency under the Public Health Act due to the significant rise in opioid-related overdose deaths. Since then over 7,000 people have died from overdose in the province.
All of the speakers shared the view that the B.C. has government hasn乌鸦传媒檛 done enough during the overdose crisis. The message to government was clear: decriminalize personal possession of illicit substances and provide a safe supply and countless lives will be saved.
The drug supply has become increasingly toxic during the pandemic, leading 2020 to be the deadliest year for overdose deaths on record with 1,716 deaths.
Earlier on Wednesday, B.C.乌鸦传媒檚 minister of addiction and mental health supports said the province will be officially requesting a federal exemption to decriminalize personal possession of drugs in order to combat the crisis.
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Cherith Robson, one of the vigil乌鸦传媒檚 first speakers, lost her son Hayden to an accidental fentanyl overdose in July 2020.
乌鸦传媒淪ince that day I乌鸦传媒檝e spent the last nine months grieving the worst day of my life and grieving my boy so much,乌鸦传媒� she said holding back tears.
Since her son乌鸦传媒檚 overdose, Robson has dedicated herself to finding out what needs to be done so no more mothers experience her pain.
Hayden乌鸦传媒檚 drug use, like most many others, started at a young age and was rooted in trauma. When Hayden was a teenager he witnessed his best friend stabbed to death.
乌鸦传媒淥f course, he乌鸦传媒檚 a big strong man and he can乌鸦传媒檛 show he乌鸦传媒檚 hurting or needing help. The stigma that we have around men not being able have pain or need help needs to end,乌鸦传媒� Robson said.
Robson had no idea her son was using opiates at first. She knew he was struggling emotionally but his drug use was always kept a secret.
Hayden was able to move away from Penticton and the environment that spawned his opiate use. He would stay clean for several years. But once his relationship deteriorated he returned to Penticton and old behaviours, and by then the drug supply had become much more toxic, causing him to fatally overdose.
Robson said if more support was available to her son he would likely still be here today.
乌鸦传媒淲hat I know is we need a safe supply,乌鸦传媒� she said. 乌鸦传媒淭hese are good people. My son could have had a chance, he could have gotten straight and he could have done a great job with the rest of his life if only he hadn乌鸦传媒檛 been poisoned.乌鸦传媒�
| Cherith Robson's son died of a fentanyl overdose in July, 2020. She's since dedicated herself to finding out what needs to be done so no more mothers experience her pain. (Screenshot) |
Jill Martins, whose son died of a drug overdose in 2016, has a similar story to Robson乌鸦传媒檚.
Martins乌鸦传媒� son Daniel died of an unintentional fentanyl overdose alone in his vehicle in Kelowna. He was 24.
In her emotional speech, Martins said her son乌鸦传媒檚 death 乌鸦传媒渢ransformed乌鸦传媒� her. 乌鸦传媒淭he presence of Daniel乌鸦传媒檚 absence is always with me, living without Daniel is the most unnatural way for me to live out my remaining years,乌鸦传媒� she said. 乌鸦传媒淚 grieve for the loss of the future I乌鸦传媒檇 always imagined sharing with him. Now there is an empty chair at family celebrations, no daughter-in-law, no grandchildren.乌鸦传媒�
Martins called her son乌鸦传媒檚 death, as well as the deaths of over 7,000 others in B.C., a 乌鸦传媒渂rutal forced separation that was both senseless and preventable thanks to our archaic drug policies and laws.乌鸦传媒�
Martins stressed the need for decriminalization and a regulated safe supply as well as a societal need for a broader understanding of generational trauma and the role that a child乌鸦传媒檚 developmental years have in forming addictive tendencies.
乌鸦传媒淚 realize now, more than ever in this world in which we live, it is critical to hold onto our children, engage with them and learn new parenting skills to stop the unintentional cycle of passing down trauma from one generation to the next,乌鸦传媒� Martins said.
| Jill Martins乌鸦传媒� son Daniel died of an unintentional fentanyl overdose alone in his vehicle in Kelowna. He was 24. (Screenshot) |
Nicola Hill was the third grieving mother to give a very emotional speech. Her son, Corey was 34 when he passed away.
乌鸦传媒淪ubstance abuse does not discriminate,乌鸦传媒� she said, 乌鸦传媒淭his could happen to anyone at anytime,乌鸦传媒� she said. 乌鸦传媒淭here are no second chances in this for some people, we are not getting to the root of the problem.乌鸦传媒�
乌鸦传媒淲e need help乌鸦传媒� we need to get to the root of the problem. Five years and these numbers are getting worse.
乌鸦传媒淯nfortunately I乌鸦传媒檓 now part of statistic. I乌鸦传媒檓 enduring the pain and loss of a child and my brain has been rewired, it feels like it was smashed with a big boulder. This trauma is now my life but it wasn乌鸦传媒檛 my choice.
This is just one mom乌鸦传媒檚 story. Sadly there are many more, too many,乌鸦传媒� Hill said through tears.
Watch Hill乌鸦传媒檚 full speech below:
Among the speakers were also several people who are still currently battling addiction themselves.
One unnamed man said he started using heavily after losing his girlfriend and best friend in the same week to overdoses before Narcan was readily available to reverse opioid overdoses.
乌鸦传媒淚t乌鸦传媒檚 affected me in pretty much every way possible,乌鸦传媒� the man said of the overdose crisis. 乌鸦传媒淚 don乌鸦传媒檛 even know who I am anymore.
He continued to say public perception of drug users needs to change in order for progress to be made.
乌鸦传媒淚t乌鸦传媒檚 not just like 乌鸦传媒榦h you choose to do drugs so it乌鸦传媒檚 your fault,乌鸦传媒櫸谘淮綕 he said. 乌鸦传媒淚t乌鸦传媒檚 so much more complicated than that. I乌鸦传媒檓 still a person, I乌鸦传媒檓 not just another face of a junkie.乌鸦传媒�
| "There needs to be more help offered or easier ways to get help because this is an incredibly hard addiction to break both mentally and physically, a lot of us feel hopeless," said this unnamed man during Wednesday's vigil. (Screenshot) |
Another Penticton woman interviewed who is currently living in active addiction said she has saved 64 lives by reviving them with Narcan and lost three people to overdose in her arms.
乌鸦传媒淚 try to remember individual people and not group and stereotype like the rest of society,乌鸦传媒� the unnamed woman said. 乌鸦传媒淵ou see anybody in this walk of life and they think we乌鸦传媒檙e all addicts, and even I have to remind myself that we乌鸦传媒檙e not addicts, we乌鸦传媒檙e human beings, each and everyone one of us乌鸦传媒� I think the government has forgotten that too when they try to address this crisis.乌鸦传媒�
| This woman said she has saved 64 lives using naloxone. The opioid overdose reversing drug became free and readily available to anyone in B.C. in 2016. (Screenshot) |
The vigil was organized by Desiree Franz of the Penticton Overdose Prevention Group in collaboration with
At the beginning of the vigil Franz shared her own path to recovery years ago and the support the had to make it happen 乌鸦传媒� support that many are not as fortunate to have, she said.
乌鸦传媒淎 safe supply, decriminalisation, livable wages, affordable housing and increased options for treatment and counselling and, finally, and most importantly: love and compassion from society,乌鸦传媒� Franz stressed as the key factors to ending the overdose crisis.
乌鸦传媒淲ithout those things I would not be here today,乌鸦传媒� she said at the beginning of nearly two-hour vigil.
乌鸦传媒淢aybe by understanding everything I needed for recovery you can understand why the war on drugs has never and will never work.
Remember that every overdose death is a policy failure.乌鸦传媒�
Watch the full vigil below:
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jesse.day@pentictonwesternnews.com
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