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  • Canadian Drug Policy Coalition releases findings of first-of-its-kind qualitative research on safe supply of drugs 

    Canadian Drug Policy Coalition releases findings of first-of-its-kind qualitative research on safe supply of drugs 

    Unceded territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) First Nations (Vancouver, B.C., Canada) – Today, the Canadian Drug Policy Coalition (CDPC) released the findings from its three-year Imagine Safe Supply study that examined ideas about safe supply participation with people who use drugs and frontline workers.

    “The debate around a safer supply of drugs is making headlines across Canada, for all the wrong reasons,” said DJ Larkin, Executive Director of the CDPC. “Misinformation and stigma are turning attention away from evidence, data and meaningful engagement with people most affected by our current toxic drug crisis. These misinformed narratives have the potential to do very real harm, and worsen an already unbearable situation that is causing the deaths of thousands of people every year. This research refocuses on what’s possible when we work toward solutions that are effective and meaningful for people who use drugs.”

    “In our research, we looked into the gaps between current access to regulated supply of drugs and ‘desired’ safe supply,” said Erin Howley, Senior Research Associate with the CDPC, and the Imagine Safe Supply project lead. “This data offers deep insight into what effective safe supply based on the leadership of people who use drugs could look like.”

    The three-year, community-based qualitative research project involved in-depth interviews with 33 people from across British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario, and Quebec about what they need for safe supply. Key findings from Imagine Safe Supply include:

    • The values of community-building, autonomy and self-determination, mutual care, trusted relationships, and cultural inclusion are central to the design of any effective safe supply program or service.
    • Effective safe supply includes a range of choices around drug options and dosages that reflect people’s unique reasons, needs and desires for using drugs. 
    • Holistic safe supply would offer a spectrum of models and supports to address the diverse needs and person-centered goals of PWUD; there is no one-size fits all approach. Effective safe supply supports a full range of choices including consensual and equitable detox and treatment options, and holistic social and economic supports, including housing.
    • All levels of government and decision-makers need to prioritize approaches to safe supply that centre the knowledge, leadership, and relationships between people who use drugs.

    The Imagine Safe Supply research team includes people who use drugs and frontline workers, as well as graduate students and staff of the Canadian Drug Policy Coalition at Simon Fraser University. The research team co-created and led every stage of the project, including research design, interviews, data analysis, and knowledge sharing. This research was undertaken through a partnership with Thunderbird Partnership Foundation, which stewards all data related to First Nations research participation in accordance with OCAP® Principles; First Nations findings have not yet been published. 

    “Our project has the word ‘imagine’ in its title for a reason,” said Phoenix Beck McGreevy, Community Research Associate. “We asked people to envision their ideal safe supply program, from the available substances to the staff and the setting. When people ventured outside the realm of what’s currently possible, that was where the really beautiful data lived.” 

    “This research changes the channel on the safe supply debate, by placing people who use drugs and frontline workers front and centre,” said Howley. “These findings offer resources that bring real-world experience to the drug policy debate, and provide knowledge and guidance to service providers, clinicians and decision-makers developing effective responses to the drug poisoning crisis in Canada.”

    The CDPC is calling on decision-makers in Canada to increase the scale and scope of safe supply access across Canada, including rural and remote areas and to underserved populations. This includes ensuring access to regulated drugs of known contents and potency to act as an alternative to the toxic unregulated drug supply, and ensuring people using drugs – with an emphasis on racialized and Indigenous people who are disproportionately affected by this crisis – are fully involved in safe supply design and delivery.  

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    Images available for download

    See dropbox link for:

    • Photographs of the Imagine Safe Supply research team
    • Illustrated headshots of the Imagine Safe Supply research team
    • Illustrations from the Imagine Safe Supply Zine, a forthcoming knowledge translation document created to share findings from the research

    Background:

    The Canadian Association of People Who Use Drugs (CAPUD) defines safe supply as “a legal and regulated supply of drugs with mind/body altering properties that traditionally have been accessible only through the illicit drug market”. Safe supply means drugs that are legally regulated with a known potency and composition. More information on Imagine Safe Supply and its findings can be found at https://drugpolicy.ca/imagine-safe-supply/

    About the Canadian Drug Policy Coalition

    Founded in 2010, the Canadian Drug Policy Coalition works in partnership with more than 60 organizations and 7,000 individuals working to support the development of a drug policy for Canada that is based in science, guided by public health principles, respectful of the human rights of all, and seeks to include people who use drugs and those harmed by the war on drugs in moving towards a healthier society. Learn more at www.drugpolicy.ca

    Media contact:

    Lesli Boldt for Canadian Drug Policy Coalition

    [email protected]

    604-662-3500

    Vancouver, B.C.

  • Honouring Donald MacPherson – A Force for Change in National Drug Policy

    Honouring Donald MacPherson – A Force for Change in National Drug Policy

    Dear CDPC supporters,

    CDPC’s Executive Director, Donald MacPherson, is retiring. On behalf of the CDPC Steering Committee, I want to recognize his incredible contributions to drug policy and the CDPC, and thank him for his unwavering mission to make drug policy humane, equitable, realistic and just.

    Before bringing his passion and insight to the creation of CDPC, Donald worked with the City of Vancouver as the Director of the Carnegie Centre, and then as the city’s Drug Policy Coordinator.  In that latter role, he published Vancouver’s ground-breaking Four Pillars Drug Strategy in 2000. This framework reflected the then-still-controversial notion that health care for people who use drugs must be understood broadly, beyond just abstinence from drug use, positioning harm reduction as a necessary element of any sensible, effective strategy.

    Donald co-founded the Canadian Drug Policy Coalition in 2011 to bring people together from across the country in a coordinated, ongoing effort to challenge and reform drug policy as a matter of not only local but national concern. As the drug poisoning crisis exploded, Donald positioned CDPC as a leader in advocacy. For years, he has convened people who use substances, politicians, health and legal experts, and other stakeholders to focus upon specific issues such as supervised consumption spaces and safe supply, decriminalization/legalization/regulation and many other critical interventions. Through changing governments at municipal, provincial and national levels, Donald has created strategies to work well with those who consider drug policy reform a valid pursuit, as well as those who are opposed because of fear, misunderstanding or ideology.

    Donald has been deeply committed to the meaningful and active involvement of people who use substances and has heightened the voices of people affected the most by unjust drug policies. Similarly, he has sought to ensure that CDPC’s work confronts the truths of the racism embedded in punitive drug policies and contributes to ongoing efforts at reconciliation with the First Peoples of Canada. 

    In addition to his many accomplishments in community, Donald is also co-author of Raise Shit! Social action saving lives (2009) and More Harm than Good: Drug policy in Canada (2016), regularly contributes to various reports and scholarly papers, and has shared his knowledge and experience around the world, including as vice-chair of the Board of the International Drug Policy Consortium, a civil society organization working to improve policy responses to drugs globally. 

    Donald served on Health Canada’s Expert Task Force on Substance Use, which issued unambiguous recommendations to end criminalization of simple possession and other measures to support and protect people who use drugs and communities – measures we’re finally seeing some progress on. He is an adjunct professor at Simon Fraser University, and has also been awarded an Honorary Doctorate from Adler University in Chicago/Vancouver, the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal, and Nora and Ted Sterling Prize in Support of Controversy at Simon Fraser University for his contribution to social justice in the field of drug policy.

    Donald has been a mentor, teacher and example of commitment to many people from all walks of life. He has affected people’s views and persuaded the unpersuadable.  He has been a giant on the national and international stage. But he has also been humble, kind, quiet, patient, respectful, approachable, and creative. He will speak of drug policy as effectively in a city of several million as in a small remote community. He is diplomatic when needed and forthright when necessary.  

    Donald has been a force for change in this country, advancing equity, justice and human rights. In recent months, as word that Donald would transition into a well-deserved retirement, one of the phrases I have heard most often is “How can we fill Donald’s shoes?”. It will be difficult. But Donald will leave us with an army of informed, committed, energetic people who understand the issues of drugs and drug policy, and who are enthusiastic to push forward with advocacy to make the world better. 

    Thank you, Donald! You will be missed greatly! Have a very happy retirement!

    Marliss Taylor

    Chair, CDPC Steering Committee

  • The Canadian Drug Policy Coalition announces DJ Larkin as new Executive Director starting April 2023

    The Canadian Drug Policy Coalition announces DJ Larkin as new Executive Director starting April 2023

    Following a nationwide search, the Canadian Drug Policy Coalition (CDPC) is pleased to announce that DJ Larkin has been chosen as the organization’s new Executive Director. DJ will succeed Donald MacPherson, the founding Executive Director of CDPC, who is retiring later this year after over a decade with the Coalition.

    DJ currently lives on the unceded Indigenous lands of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish) & səlil̓wətaʔɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Peoples, and is committed to lifelong learning, self-improvement, and action to dismantle settler colonialism.

    DJ Larkin is a respected lawyer and legal advocate who has worked on issues impacting people experiencing criminalization and systemic marginalization for over a decade. DJ has worked to centre the voices of people who use drugs through support for peer-led groups in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside and in working with individuals and organizations in numerous other regions and communities. DJ has represented Indigenous governments—both elected and hereditary—in litigation regarding rights, land, and resource management. In 2017-2018, DJ also co-investigated and co-authored an in-depth report on systemic exclusion and marginalization of people living at the intersection of poverty, housing insecurity, and criminalized substance use aimed at creating systemic legislative and policy reform.

    The CDPC vision is clear and its mission unwavering,” DJ said of the Coalition. “This reflects the work of generations of brilliant and dedicated people who use drugs, activists, academics, allies, advocates, and policy leaders like Donald MacPherson. I also know that so much more work needs to be done, and I have enormous shoes to fill. I’m honoured to have the opportunity, and I look forward to getting to work later this spring.”

    DJ Larkin will join the CDPC as executive director in April 2023. 

    Contact us:
    Alessia Matsos
    Communications Coordinator
    Canadian Drug Policy Coalition
    [email protected]
    (905)-869-7451

    DOWNLOAD HERE
  • Do The Work; Get Paid: Colonial Pay Systems Cause Harm

    Do The Work; Get Paid: Colonial Pay Systems Cause Harm

    In our drug policy work, the Canadian Drug Policy Coalition (CDPC) acknowledges the colonial ideologies, systems, and processes in which we operate within.

    We strongly feel that we must emphasize that colonial systems continue to cause harm and that our work is embedded within these systems. CDPC is a part of Simon Fraser University—and large institutions such as these move in ways that are often rigid, culturally insensitive, and uncreative when it comes to working with Indigenous peoples. This is evident when it comes to paying Indigenous people in ways that are culturally respectful. The protocol of requesting receipts and invoices, and sometimes waiting for weeks to get paid, is a huge barrier to many—and a disincentive to collaboration processes that must be meaningfully addressed.

    We feel it is important to acknowledge that there have been times when we acted insensitively and are grateful to those who have taken the time to educate us on how these processes may not best serve key groups that we truly wish to serve efficiently and compassionately. We are moved by these relationships and would like to honour them by striving to improve how we ensure our Indigenous allies are paid in a way that works best for them.

  • Municipal Voter Resource: Voting in Rights-based Drug Policy Champions

    Municipal Voter Resource: Voting in Rights-based Drug Policy Champions

    Municipal governments, along with federal and provincial governments, have an important role to play in reforming harmful drug policies. To support public health and human rights, the Canadian Drug Policy Coalition (CDPC) advocates for full decriminalization of simple drug possession and necessity trafficking*, investment into social supports such as housing, expansion of safe supply and harm reduction measures, and legal regulation of all drugs under a single regulatory framework.

    To forward key policy changes such as decriminalization, and to support harm reduction measures such as supervised consumption sites, having support from city council can make all the difference in implementing the changes that are needed to address the drug toxicity crisis.

    ​​*Necessity trafficking is sharing or selling drugs for subsistence, to support personal use, or to provide a safe supply.

    View full report

  • International Overdose Awareness Day 2022 Events

    International Overdose Awareness Day 2022 Events

    Throughout the country, dozens of events are being held on August 31 to honour those who have been lost to drug overdose and to raise awareness of the toxic drug poisoning crisis. The following list of events are just some of the initiatives our friends and partners are holding to acknowledge this day:

    ENSEMBLE:

    In collaboration with John Howard Society, ENSEMBLE is having a free community BBQ on August 31st from 11am-3pm for International Overdose Awareness Day (80 Weldon St, Moncton). We will also be doing free Naloxone training! Individuals can submit names of loved ones lost to the toxic drug supply to [email protected] and we will display them on hearts to commemorate them.

    ENSEMBLE is also hosting a candlelight vigil at city hall on August 31st at 8pm. They will read out names, light candles and take a moment to collectively grieve. 

    Click here for details.

    Location: 80 Weldon Street, Moncton, BC.

    The Powerview-Pine Falls/Sagkeeng Harm Reduction Network

    The Powerview-Pine Falls/Sagkeeng Harm Reduction Network and the Sagkeeng Health Centre Wellness Team are holding a 4-day community event for overdose prevention. 

    Sagkeeng Arena Complex and Sagkeeng Arbor
    Aug 23 – 26, daily from 10 a.m. – 3 p.m. (see poster for details) 

    Moms Stop The Harm:

    Moms Stop the Harm encourages members to consider a variety of actions in your community on August 31 to mark IOAD 2022. These include:

    • Make, wear and distribute purple ribbons.
    • Organize or participate in an IOAD event.
    • Leave an empty purple chair for your loved one. Take photos and share on social media.
    • Demonstrate what a regulated, safe supply could look like. You can do so by ordering a demonstrator box to display at your event. Order by Aug 10, 2022 by sending your name, address and event to [email protected].

    Check out the different communities they’ll be in on August 31 here!

    Ryan’s Hope and Moms Stop The Harm

    Ryan’s Hope and Moms Stop The Harm will be meeting at City Hall for a flag raising, proclamation from the Mayor, and a short ceremony of remembrance. Organizations will be on hand to hand out harm reduction kits, and naloxone. 9:30 a.m. at Barrie City Hall, 70 Collier St.

    Ryan’s Hope and Moms Stop The Harm will meet in honour of those we have lost for a time of remembrance, celebration, and mourning. Speeches, a moment of silence, and a candlelight vigil will be held. If you would like your loved one honoured, email your photo and memory to [email protected]. 8 p.m. at Barrie City Hall, 70 Collier St.

    United Way Simcoe Muskoka

    To align with Overdose Awareness Day, United Way Simcoe Muskoka is hosting a documentary screening of Flood: The Overdose Epidemic in Canada, which tells the human story behind the overdose epidemic. Following the screening will be a panel discussion with local experts and people with lived experience to shine a light further on this local crisis. It is a free event, tickets here: https://tickets.algonquintheatre.ca/TheatreManager/1/online?performance=2226

    Doors open at 6:30 p.m. show starts at 7 p.m. at Algonquin Theatre in Huntsville, 37 Main Street East.

    Sandy Hill Community Health Centre

    Please join us for guest speakers, narcan training and tabling by related organization! 11:30 am at 120 Lisgar st – Human Rights Monument.

    Chilliwack Community Action Team and Shxwha:y Village

    Mountainside Harm Reduction Society is partnered with the Chilliwack Community Action Team and Shxwha:y Village to host an event on Wednesday August 31st from 12pm – 4pm. Resources, memorial activities, drug checking and consumption services, support groups, free food trucks & a live butterfly release will be happening at 44680 Schweyey Road.

    Blood Ties Four Directions – Yukon

    Blood Ties Four Directions will be holding a space where the community can share memories and hopes for change in a supportive sharing circle. We will be providing a memorial tree for those who have passed and candles. We will also be having a few speeches and introducing the “Getting to Tomorrow dialogue”. We will be providing some stew and bannock for refreshments. Our event will take place on the 31st from 11am-2pm (6189 6th Avenue Whitehorse, Yukon).

    The East Kootenay Network of People who Use Drugs

    The East Kootenay Network of People who Use Drugs will be hosting a Candlelight Vigil in honour of all of our dead friends at 6:00pm 🕕, Wednesday August 31, at Street Angels.

    The East Kootenay Network of People who Use Drugs will be hosting our 3rd annual protest 🪧 in Cranbrook. We will meet at ANKORS at 12:00pm 🕛. From there we will march through down town Cranbrook, to City Hall.

    Black-CAP

    Join us on 31 August 2022 as we raise awareness of overdose and reduce the stigma of drug related deaths. It’s a time to remember our loved ones and a time to act! Learn how to recognize and respond to an Overdose. Naloxone training and kits are available. 12 pm – 4 pm at Christie Ossington Neighbourhood Center (854 Bloor Street, West).

    Avenue B

    Avenue B will be hosting a Harm Reduction Fair at Kings Square from 10 am – 2 pm with tables from Moms Stop the Harm, SUNAR, Avenue B (including Naloxone training), Ridgewood, Riverstone Recovery, and more. 100 King St, Saint John.

    ANKORS:

    ANKORS, the Rural Empowered Drug Users Network, Mental Health and Substance Use, Circle of Indigenous Nations Society, Nelson Fentanyl Task Force, Freedom Quest, The HUB, Kootenay Boundary Supported Recovery, and other local resource providers and groups will be hosting a Vigil from 1 pm – 2 pm, and a Knowledge Walk from 2 pm – 3 pm in Cottonwood Falls Park, Nelson.

    Coalition of Substance Users of the North (CSUN) and Community Partners

    CSUN and community partners are inviting the community to attend their event on August 31st from 12 pm – 3 pm. The event will take place at the front entrance of the walking bridge on Front Street. They will be hosting an opening ceremony, open mic, memorial flower drop, Elder/partner/honourary guest acknowledgement, and closing ceremony. Learn more about the event here.

    Maple Ridge Street Outreach Society

    Join the Maple Ridge Street Outreach Society for a Pancake brunch to honour and remember loved ones lost to the Fentanyl poisoning epidemic. The event will be a space to share food and stories to remember our loved ones and call for actions. The brunch is from 10 am – 12 pm at Neighbourhood House, 11739-223 Ave in Maple Ridge. Learn more about this event here.

    Mission Overdose Community Action Team

    Mission Overdose Community Action Team will be hosting a memorial art walk from 4 pm – 7 pm. Please meet at 1st Ave in Mission. Art will be displayed on First Ave. with support of the Mission Downtown Business Association. Live Music, Resources, Refreshments, Empty Chair Campaign, Naloxone training, conversation. Memorial open mic & guest speakers 5:30pm. Learn more about this event here.

    ROAR – Reducing Overdose: Abbotsford Response

    ROAR will be hosting an event from 11 am – 2 pm at Jubilee Park. There will be Keynote speakers, Naloxone training, information booths, interactive art activities, and food trucks. Learn more about the event here.

    Sunshine Coast Community Action Initiative

    The Sunshine Coast Community Action Initiative is hosting an event from 3-6 PM at Hackett Park in Sechelt, BC. Enter the park at the corner of Ocean Avenue and Dolphin Street. The event will bring recognition to the lives lost to overdose and call for action from government to work harder to decrease the fatalities from this crisis. The event will include speakers, music, local resources, and an intentional space to memorialize those who have been lost.

    Memorial for Overdose Outrage

    The Memorial will start between 1:30pm until about 3 pm. Please meet in the courtyard (churchayard next to 955 Queen St E). 

    CN Tower Illumination

    In honour of IOAD, the CN Tower will be illuminated in purple for all to see.

    Parkdale Queen West Community Health Centre

    Join the Parkdale Queen West Community Health Centre from 11 am – 3 pm for their event.

    More Events in Your Community

    To find more events being held in your community, check out these comprehensive lists:
    https://www.overdoseday.com/canada/
    https://www.momsstoptheharm.com/ioad

    Share Your Event

    To submit a public event to be listed on our webpage or email newsletter, email [email protected] with your event time, location and details.

  • Request for Proposal (RFP) – Development of Harm Reduction Website Redesign

    Request for Proposal (RFP) – Development of Harm Reduction Website Redesign

    Program Overview & Goals 

    Stimulus: Drugs, Policy and Practice in Canada is a collaborative program of the Canadian Association of People who Use Drugs (CAPUD) and the Canadian Drug Policy Coalition. Stimulus hosts virtual and in-person meetings, events and conferences to further connections and knowledge translation in harm reduction and drug policy across communities in so-called Canada. 

    We are looking for a web designer with experience in interactive design and educational websites to design and develop an all-encompassing Harm Reduction Hub website as part of our existing website. 

    We envision this as a ‘go-to’ destination on our existing website that is interactive and accessible and encompasses a range of Harm Reduction materials including videos, documents, an event calendar, maps, images, resources, toolkits etc.  

    Another aspect of this project will include reworking our current menu bars to better centralize content provided by staff.  

    Site content is being developed internally. This project is focused on website design, UI/UX, and web development on an existing WordPress website.  

    Timeline 

    • Scope of project: 10-12 weeks 
    • Proposals reviewed and selected by Sept 14, 2022 
    • Work to begin late September 2022 
    • Website launch January 2023 

    Project Purpose 

    Stimulus works in close collaboration with experts from every province, including people with living experience, national organizations and regional partners.  

    Our goal is to create a website (accessible from drop-down menu https://stimulusconference.ca) that connects all the resources that come out of these individuals and organizations, to provide an interactive, centralized and collaborative space that provides resources and information to people who use drugs, frontline workers, community groups and others in the harm reduction and drug policy sector.  

    Scope of Work 

    The Web Developer will work both independently and collaboratively with CDPC staff to brainstorm, conceptualize, plan and design a compelling and interactive website to exist within our current website. This website will encompass current Stimulus branding and present materials (provided by CDPC staff) in an accessible, user-friendly way. While this website will use existing branding materials (colours, fonts, logos), the page will have its own unique components compared to other CDPC and CAPUD websites, separate from the appearance of existing websites. 

    It’s essential that we provide a visual resource centre including functionalities such as 

    • Categorized resource directory 
    • Search feature 
    • Video library 
    • Interactive Event Calendar (with user submission function)  
    • Social stream 
    • Parallel French website  

    Potential other functionalities to include 

    • Harm reduction map 
    • Forum with user profiles 

    Deliverables 

    • Meetings with Stimulus/CDPC staff for updates on progress  
    • Visual graphics for website (ie. ‘Resource’ button image, ‘Video’ thumbnail, etc.) 
    • Tutorial on how CDPC staff can upload and manage the website (maintenance guide) 
    • Website with populated sections (content provided by CDPC staff)  

    Required Information 

    • At least 5 years of web design or development  
    • Examples of educational web design (non-profit examples are an asset)  
    • Examples of online archives/libraries  
    • Experience with integrating search engines on websites 
    • Proposed timeline and budget   

    The CDPC welcomes and values labour and life experiences done outside of formal school or work environments. Please do not hesitate to let us know about any experience that you have in your communities that meet our requirements. 

    The Canadian Drug Policy Coalition values equity, diversity, justice, and inclusion, and is focused on enriching our commitment to and application of these principles. We encourage applicants from a range of communities, experiences, and backgrounds including, Indigeneity, race, drug use, ability, sexuality, gender, and those affected by the criminalization of drugs and/or sex work. 

    Budget  

    • $12,000 for website design, including tax 
    • Possibility for additional maintenance retainer 

    Proposals Email questions and proposals to: Naja Kassir, Stimulus Program Coordinator [email protected] 

    Download
  • Statement of Retraction

    Statement of Retraction

    WARNING: This post contains mention of sexual abuse

    On May 12th, 2022, Canadian Drug Policy Coalition (CDPC) posted a statement. The CDPC statement, removed from the website drugpolicy.ca on May 20th, addressed concerns involving an incident of sexual abuse that came to light in 2018, within a clinical trial conducted by the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies in the United States (MAPS) and also implicated MAPS Canada. The CDPC statement suggested that there were reports that MAPS “ignored, minimized, suppressed and used a participant’s formal account of sexual assault to coerce her into a position of extreme social and economic precarity”. CDPC had not independently verified any such reports. CDPC has retracted the CDPC statement. We apologize for any errors within the original statement. CDPC maintains its unequivocal support for victims of clinical malpractice engaged in psychedelic therapeutic trials. 

    We would like to make explicit that the May 12th CDPC statement and this statement do not necessarily reflect the views of the over 50 organizations that are members of the Canadian Drug Policy Coalition.

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  • An abundance of loss

    An abundance of loss

    So many in our community have been lost to toxic drugs that it’s hard to keep track. That’s a horrible feeling. We want to honour and respect each individual, so forgetting them, even for a few seconds, is such an injustice.

    It is distressing to admit that so many people have passed that you can’t even remember them all. Who would have known when we were kids playing tag on the school field or skateboarding through the streets, that some friends would not be growing old with us? Who could have predicted that one day they would be alone and no one would be there to help when they needed it most? I wish I could go back in time and tell them how cool I thought they were; that I loved them. They enriched our lives, inspired us and contributed to our community. They were beautiful people who were ripped from us, leaving behind a dark hole that can never be refilled.

    Unfortunately, nothing is changing, in fact it’s getting worse. We don’t know who we are going to lose next. Scrolling through my feed on social media, the dreadful news is almost anticipated and followed by frantic texts to learn the truth. As my head is flooded with the final memories I have of that friend, I can hear my own voice:

    “Don’t give up; your daughter needs you.”

    Those were the last words I recently shared with a friend who passed away soon after. Because of outdated, racist drugs policies, that little girl doesn’t have a dad, we’ve lost our friend and our community has lost one of its brightest spirits.

    International Drug Users’ Remembrance Day is a time to remember the people whose lives were lost due to ongoing criminalization and stigmatization of People Who Use Drugs. On this day we renew a call for an accessible safe supply of drugs to end the drug toxicity crisis.