It is international overdose awareness day today the medical community and activists team up on this day to try to help end overdoses and to remove the stigma around drug use dozens of events are planned across the country today but as Georgie Smythe explains the annual
Day is coming at a time when many in BC are overwhelmed with the Staggering number of Overdose deaths ending overdoses removing stigma from people who have died from drug poisonings and acknowledging the grief of victims families and friends other goals of international overdose awareness day which is the world’s largest annual
Campaign about drug overdoses here in BC more than 1455 people have died from toxic drugs since the beginning of this year that’s even after the province decriminalized small amounts of certain illicit drugs for people aged 18 years and and above in January that’s according to the latest data from the BC coroners service
Which tracks unregulated drug deaths here and is the most ever recorded in the first seven months of a year in BC since a public health emergency was declared in 2016 a total of 12 739 people in The Province have died from drug overdoses in those seven years
That number and the names behind them will be front of mind today as events commemorating those deaths take place for some people that means grieving brothers sisters mothers fathers daughters and for Shirley Wilson her son Jacob who died two years ago from a fentanyl overdose her message to
Canadians today is that addiction and overdose can happen in any family every single one of those is a human in between all of those numbers are humans they’re just imagine the faces and it can happen to anyone it happened to us it can happen to anyone addicts may come
From different spaces different families different homes different Lifestyles they may be professional they may be unemployed but in the end when we think about the addicts who have passed that’s their commonality is death the theme for this year is recognizing people who go unseen in the drug
Epidemic whose loved ones have died or suffered permanent injuries from a drug overdose and to send the message that drug overdose is preventable Georgie Smythe CBC News Vancouver
Aug. 31 is International Overdose Awareness Day and it comes as nearly 1,500 people in British Columbia have died from toxic drugs since the beginning of 2023.
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Good thing they are just handing out hard drugs eh.
The only way to solve this is by providing more free drugs, and legalizing all drugs. Then we need safe injection long term stay hotels for free. C’mon BC. You can do it!
Street drugs have poor quality consistency hence the overdose risks. Fentanyl addiction can come from legitimate medical use such as surgical recoveries that's why it affects all backgrounds. Understanding and compassion is what is needed not callousness and derogatory attitudes.
Just say no