Thank you for this opportunity.
I am co-founder of Moms Stop the Harm, representing thousands of families across Canada. Most mourn a loved one due to the toxic drug crisis, and many support loved ones with lived or living experience. Our website includes 600 images of loved ones who have died.
Being here today is both meaningful and difficult as tomorrow is the 10th anniversary of the day when our son Danny died. Danny was a brother, a friend and a talented chef.
Danny is a poster child for failed drug policy. He was on methadone for a while, then abstinent, but never stable. In 2014, fentanyl appeared on the market, and he was one of the early victims. There were no warnings, and he did not have access to harm reduction, which could have saved him.
Today, almost everyone knows someone who has lost a loved one. Those who die include people who use them every day, occasionally or just once—like Olivia, a 13-year-old girl from central Alberta, who died after using it with a friend. We do not know what substance the teenagers intended to use or how much, but unregulated fentanyl killed them both.
The increasing death from the toxic drug supply is driven by prohibitionist policy decisions that have failed to keep our loved ones safe. This includes a failure to robustly implement harm reduction across the country.
In Canada, almost all deaths are from unregulated drugs, with over 85% nationally; and for opioids in Alberta, it is a staggering 98%. Yet, we see political leaders create moral panic around the 2%, while ignoring the other 98%. We are told this is an addictions crisis and more beds and more abstinence-based treatment will be the answer. Yet, the example often cited, the Alberta model, has failed to save lives. The year 2023 will be the worst year on record for deaths in my home province.
According to national data, substance use has not gone up in over 10 years, yet deaths have skyrocketed. Why?
This is not a problem of addiction, but of a toxic, unregulated supply. Access to consumption services, drug checking, unregulated alternatives and decriminalization of people who use drugs are what is needed. Sadly, these measures currently in place are insufficient for the magnitude of the crisis and do not reach all communities.
This is a truth and reconciliation issue. The TRC report calls on the government to reduce gaps in health outcomes between indigenous and non-indigenous people, yet indigenous people are disproportionately affected. They are seven times more likely to die in Alberta, and five times more likely in B.C.
Sarah Auger lost her son Lakotah in 2022. He was a doting father, a loving son and proud to be Cree. He used alcohol and other substances, but his use of unregulated substances, including fentanyl that later took his life, escalated only after he was incarcerated. While we know the harm of alcohol surpasses all other substances, one drink will not kill you.
Lakotah's story and the story of Mike also illustrate the danger of forcing abstinence on people despite the well-documented risks. Mike was the son of our board chair, Traci Letts. He was playful, thoughtful and a passionate cook. Both Lakotah and Mike died shortly after incarceration.
Similarly, Angela Welz lost her young daughter Zoe, who was athletic, funny and headstrong, shortly after two failed attempts at getting help through the involuntary detention via the Alberta PChAD act.
What is so upsetting is the fact that the deaths of our loved ones have become politicized with misinformation and outright lies. This is a public health issue and needs to be treated as such. I urge you to stop the angry, harmful, misinformed, polarizing debates. Politics and ideology must be taken out of health care.
Work together and focus on what the evidence tells us. Harm reduction, including the provision of regulated alternatives, saves lives. Evidenced-based, voluntary and accountable treatment saves lives. Prevention and addressing the social determinants of health save lives. This is not a harm reduction versus recovery debate. Our loved ones need and deserve both.
Danny is on my mind every day, and I know he wanted help. The day before he died he asked me to make an appointment with his psychologist. He did not live long enough to see her. More treatment would not have saved him, but harm reduction and access to regulated substances would have.
Where there is life, there is hope. It is your responsibility to ensure that our loved ones live and that we have hope that the needless deaths will end.
Thank you kindly for this opportunity.