Advocates organize marches for International Overdose Awareness Day
Marches were held in Edmonton and Calgary Tuesday as advocates try to educate people on how many drug overdoses happen daily in Alberta and how they can be prevented.
Four Albertans die every day from a drug overdose, according to Petra Schulz, with Moms Stop The Harm and Albertans for Ethical Drug Policy. In the first five months of 2021, 624 Albertans died due to an overdose, up 41 per cent from the same time period in 2020.
“This year of COVID, of people being isolated, of the drug supply getting toxic and at the same time having a government that takes away everything that helps has made things so much worse,” said Schulz.
The group Albertans for Ethical Drug Policy is calling on the province to reverse recent changes to harm reduction services.
In a statement from the Associate Minister of Mental Health and Addictions Mike Ellis, he said the government is “committed to a full recovery-oriented system of care that helps Albertans live a healthy life.”
“Alberta’s government is making a variety of addiction services available,” Ellis added. “From fully funded treatment spaces to opioid agonist therapy to overdose prevention services, help is here throughout a person’s addiction and into recovery.”
Naloxone kits, which can be used to temporarily reverse the effects of an opioid poisoning or overdose, can be obtained at more than 2,000 locations across Alberta, according to Ellis.
“It’s good to offer treatment and recovery, but first we have to keep people alive,” said Schulz.
“The drug supply is toxic, so if we give people who use substances… pharmaceutical alternatives, not only do you make sure they stay healthy and they don’t die, we would also make sure they get connected to health services.
“It’s people from all walks of life, doing different things… nobody is immune.”
Moms Stop The Harm, along with the Lethbridge Overdose Prevention Society, recently filed a lawsuit against the province over recent changes to supervised consumption sites.
In addition to the march, Moms Stop The Harm and Edmonton Healing Hearts Peer Bereavement Support Group hosted another event Tuesday evening.
“It’s really nice to be around people who understand, because often our death is often stigmatized differently than other deaths,” said Rebecca Rummery, with Moms Stop The Harm. “People always ask how your loved one died and as soon as you say drugs were involved, people’s reactions change.”
The event included naloxone training and a candlelight vigil overlooking the High Level Bridge, which was changed to purple, the color of International Overdose Awareness Day.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
Toxic testing standoff: Family leaves house over air quality
A Sherwood Park family says their new house is uninhabitable. The McNaughton's say they were forced to leave the house after living there for only a week because contaminants inside made it difficult to breathe.
Decoy bear used to catch man who illegally killed a grizzly, B.C. conservation officers say
A man has been handed a lengthy hunting ban and fined thousands of dollars for illegally killing a grizzly bear, B.C. conservation officers say.
B.C. seeks ban on public drug use, dialing back decriminalization
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
OPP responds to apparent video of officer supporting anti-Trudeau government protestors
The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) says it's investigating an interaction between a uniformed officer and anti-Trudeau government protestors after a video circulated on social media.
An emergency slide falls off a Delta Air Lines plane, forcing pilots to return to JFK in New York
An emergency slide fell off a Delta Air Lines jetliner shortly after takeoff Friday from New York, and pilots who felt a vibration in the plane circled back to land safely at JFK Airport.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau on navigating post-political life, co-parenting and freedom
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
Last letters of pioneering climber who died on Everest reveal dark side of mountaineering
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
Loud boom in Hamilton caused by propane tank, police say
A loud explosion was heard across Hamilton on Friday after a propane tank was accidentally destroyed and detonated at a local scrap metal yard, police say.