Thank you for the question and your kind words.
With Danny, obviously he was not at a point where he wanted to stop using. Many people who use substances are not at a time or in the right position to stop using, but everybody deserves the right to live.
At that point, if Danny had had access to regulated alternatives, they would have given him a chance to use a substance that would not have killed him, and would also have connected him to a health system and opened doors for him to get other supports.
He also struggled with some mental health issues that could have been addressed at the time, which would have been a key element. At that time, there was no harm reduction available, which has now been expanded. He was always very safety conscious. Even the day before he died, he bought fresh needles. We saw that receipt, and it was very hard.
It would have been better if there had been a safe place to use. He died a short walk from where we later had a consumption site in Alberta, but which was subsequently closed.
To those who feel that recriminalization will end public substance use, I invite them to come to Alberta. There is a lot of public substance use happening because we have closed safe places. As long as we don't have housing and safe places for people to use, we will see public substance use, and we'll also see people like Danny using at home alone.
Another thing that would have helped Danny is decriminalization. He was very aware of his substance use, and he felt shame. He felt it was causing our family shame and stigma. Stigma is a huge issue. We often talk about stigma, but we will not remove stigma until you end the criminalization of substance use.