By Kat Wahamaa, British Columbia.

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The election is fast approaching and we must be fierce with all the candidates and push them on their stance on evidence-based drug policy.

· 12,000 Canadians were killed by opioid-related poisoning since 2016

· In BC life expectancy stats have fallen 2 years in a row

· Most victims are men between 25 and 59, while we also mourn many young women and girls

· Most people are dying alone in their homes

My son was killed by Fentanyl poisoning in 2016. I am now a member of a group that I did not want to join. A group that is growing relentlessly everyday – I am one of the 12,000 Canadian mothers whose child has been killed in this epidemic. No one is immune to this plague. It can touch any one at any time.

Moms Stop the Harm (MSTH) is a network of Canadian families whose loved ones have died from drug related harms or who struggle with substance use. We call for an end to the failed war on drugs and we embrace an approach that reduces harm, and respects human rights. People who use drugs must not be criminalized and must be treated with compassion and support

Stigma is literally killing our children. It paralyzes politicians from responding in an informed evidence-based way to this massive health emergency.

We are dealing with systemic issues and a medical condition that we currently treat with stigma, dogma and incarceration.

As a country, as a continent we are facing an intergenerational crisis – trauma of parents, children – responders, their family members friends – politicians of every stripe just don’t seem to get the ramifications of what is happening.

MSTH supports all families who mourn the loss of a loved one to drug harms, but our most challenging work is for the living. We want to spare others from these painful losses and help them understand that harm reduction, regulated safe supply, decriminalization is the way to go. Recovery takes different forms for everyone, but you can’t recover if you are dead.

Tony Rees, Lorraine Pinel, Elaine Cormier, Elise Gouin, Elizabeth Bukala, Carol Monkman, Oosha Ramsoondar, Tracy Scott, Kat Wahamaa, Chris Bossley, Chris Horne, Krista Budd

Low Barrier Chorus - We are a group of people with lived experience, just like you – some of us are drug users, some of us have lost a family member or friend, all of us know there is a better way, an evidence based, compassionate way to make change. We all are focused on Positive Resistance and we know that words and music can change the World. FBLowBarrierChorus