Bold political will needed to stem tide of death from drug overdoses
As I write this message on Mother’s Day, I am thinking with compassion of all the mothers across our nation who have experienced the loss of a child.
On May 21, 2016, I lost my only son to fentanyl poisoning, and so I join a growing collective of mothers who grieve for their child as a consequence of the fentanyl crisis.
Last year, I submitted my thoughts regarding my loss and the overdose crisis to the Times Colonist. Once again, I find myself putting pen to paper as another set of statistics and graphs are released by the B.C. Coroners Service. The most recent statistics, reporting 161 deaths in the month of March in our province continues to impress upon me that little has changed to slow the tide of deaths.
After my son died, I felt compelled to join voices with Moms Stop the Harm to fight for drug-policy changes. This network of families and allies across Canada is gaining momentum, as families who have lost a loved one to what is a preventable death join forces and speak up loud and clear to advocate for change.
A mother’s voice will not be silent. The current statistics stating increases in the death rates each year and the more than 4,000 deaths from overdose in all of Canada in 2017 are staggering. One can only wonder how many more deaths must take place before real change happens.
Clearly, the approach we are taking now is not working to address this medical need. The increasing number of deaths are the evidence to show that.
Behind all these losses are the huge number of individuals affected by these deaths. Each person belonged to someone and was valued by someone. I am often asked to share my son’s story, and many times I sense the interest in the nature of his loss.
I am painfully aware of the stigma attached to his story. I’ve read the uneducated statements some people write in response to a drug overdose. I’ve heard callers phone in on radio shows, stuck in a belief system that somehow drug use is a choice and that the result was somehow deserved.
These are powerful and hurtful attitudes that I know exist at every level of our society, including the medical profession and our criminal-justice system. The stigmatization of those who use substances only holds back our ability to give people the medical care they deserve.
With 90 per cent of individuals lost dying indoors alone, it points to the shame and judgment that is held over those individuals who could not step forward to request and receive effective medical supports and care. My son was one of those individuals.
There is no question that as a mother, when I see these statistics I am frustrated, but as the rate of overdose deaths continue, I’m getting angry. With an average of four people a day dying of an overdose, we are at epidemic proportions, and I am baffled that our government continues to drag its heels in response to this health crisis.
Certainly, our provincial government is making some valiant efforts, and I believe they are coming from the right place, but the wheels churn slowly as people continue to die. It takes a bold political will to create change to stem the tide of deaths.
We need only to look to countries such as Portugal that implemented drug-policy changes and the decriminalization of drugs, which significantly lowered their rate of deaths due to overdose.
So this Mother’s Day, I am thinking of my son, along with so many other moms across our nation who are mourning their children taken too soon. In memory of my child, I will continue to advocate for drug=policy changes with Moms Stop the Harm.
I might have lost my ability to fight for my child, but I will continue to fight for another mother’s child. Jennifer Howard is member of Moms Stop the Harm and a facilitator of a bereavement group (GRASP) for families who have lost a loved one to an overdose.