Every day my inbox brings me stories of death
People are dying of toxic drugs in even greater numbers now than when British Columbia declared a public health emergency five years ago on April 14, 2016. On average, five people per day are dying. That's more than five brothers, sisters, coworkers, fathers, mothers, teammates and members of our community every day. It will be more than five tomorrow and the next day.
Nora (not her real name) has lost two sons to fentanyl poisoning in the past two months. She called me just days ago; she is in the angry stage of disbelief and grief. Just two weeks before, I had spoken to Nora's good friend Janice (not her real name). Nora and Janice's boys had grown up together. Janice, a nurse and mother to five boys, has also lost two sons to fentanyl since December and another son lost his life nine years earlier to a drug-related suicide.
Every day in my role with Moms Stop the Harm — a national advocacy group comprised of families impacted by substance-use-related harms that aims to change failed drug policies and provide peer support for grieving families — my inbox brings me stories of deaths and harms, and any one of them would break your heart. Over 2,000 stories in the past five years. And that is only a fraction of the deaths that families have suffered across Canada. Their loved ones are either addicted to often-fatal toxic drugs or they're weekend warriors trying to feel a little better in a world that doesn't have much to offer right now. Or their kids are dead.
I lost my own son to a toxic combination of drugs in 2014. Jordan was just 25 and he was my only child, so I am keenly aware of this pain. Can you imagine? No, you can't if this hasn't happened to someone you love. And you shouldn't have to imagine it. It shouldn't happen. It is, in fact, preventable.
Layer upon layer of fear, anxiety, grief and frustration exists among all families faced with the startling inaction of governments in response to the emergency of the epidemic of toxic drug deaths. Who can help us? Here is a list: the B.C. Ministry of Mental Health and Addictions, the B.C. Ministry of Health, the premier of British Columbia, Health Canada, educators, researchers, doctors, psychologists, psychiatrists, counsellors, and our local legislators.
Who IS helping us? I won't say no one, because that wouldn't be true.
Many good hearted and well intentioned people are fighting to push through evidence-based drug policies, including people in many of those organizations listed above. There are several models in the hands of government that could be implemented quickly, and at low cost to all. For example, expand the list of pharmaceutical alternatives that clinicians can prescribe to patients with problematic substance use. Further, we must ensure that clinicians receive and have access to the appropriate training to confidently prescribe substances. And let's also ensure peer-led models exist to provide access to safe supply — this would include facilities where people who use drugs can receive clean, regulated drugs for personal use and decisions for access are made by peers and not clinicians, removing potential barriers to accessing health care.
Despite best intentions, it is clear that more funding and options for all pathways of treatment are required and access to safer drugs is necessary now for those who need them.
Unfortunately, there has been a collective failure to inspire the emergency response necessary to stop the deaths. What is lacking is the courage from those who hold the reins of power.
We, the mothers, have suffered enough. We are angry. Like Nora, we cannot and will not accept the reality that our governing bodies cannot stop the deaths. We are not broken but we are tired of waiting for a system of care, crying at losing our children. Five years and seeing thousands more deaths is enough. This is an emergency, and it requires an emergency response!