MSTH co-founder Leslie McBain

Hello all,

A lot less travelling and not going to in-person meetings, has actually given me more time to be involved in virtual meetings, write, answer individual letters and respond to media. COVID has not been a negative in this regard. In most other ways of course it has been and is a disaster for all.

I have spoken publicly during COVID many times on why the epidemic of toxic drug deaths has increased, why the drugs are more poisonous, why people are using alone, how the government is not attending to this epidemic, and how stigmatized thinking has been the ‘driver’ of inaction in all governments.

I have created a committee of MSTH Moms to delve deep into the disaster apparent in most recovery and treatment facilities. We have members across Canada whose loved ones have died ‘in care’ because of lack of oversight, weak regulations, insufficient training of staff and many other problems. We are in dialogue with the BC office of Strategic Initiatives and will resume meeting after government is formed.

(If there are MSTH members who have had bad experiences with their loved ones in treatment in BC please email me at momsstoptheharm@gmail.com)

It becomes more apparent than ever that we must push the feds, provinces and municipalities for a safe regulated legal supply of drugs for people who need them – we can drastically lower the number of deaths with safe supply in place. Complex but not impossible!

MSTH has received a substantial grant from the province of BC to support families in BC who experience the grief of losing a loved one or have a loved one struggling. We are additionally waiting for (hopefully good) news on whether we will receive a federal grant to do the same across the country.

Leslie

MSTH co-founder Petra Schulz

A challenging year is more challenging to those of us who are grieving or supporting a loved one living with substance use or in recovery. The intersection of COVID-19 and the drug poisoning crisis has brought us more heartache in the form of unprecedented overdose death rates in every province and territory.

Public health measures designed to keep us safe from the Coronavirus means that people are isolated, and more people use and die alone. At the same time harm reduction programs, such as consumption services operate at reduced capacity, as do treatment services and many other services.

The measures that would keep people alive, most notably providing a safe supply of pharmaceutical alternatives to toxic street drugs, are only available to a limited number of people in Ontario and in BC. At the same time, provincial governments stand by while our loved ones die with the unhelpful mantra of “don’t use, you might die”. We all know that if it was as easy as telling people to abstain because using could be risky we would not be where we are right now.

Some governments, most notably in Alberta, go further than idly standing by. In the province, I call home harm reduction and even treatment services are actively being dismantled with the closure of the consumption site in Lethbridge and the phasing out of the high success injectable Opioid Agonist Treatment (iOAT) program in Edmonton and Calgary. iOAT is designed for people for whom all other treatment options have not worked. Many describe this program as life-saving and may fear for their lives, should it be canceled.

With COVID restrictions in place, the board has taken this opportunity created by the fact that we are all stuck at home to get together via on-line meetings to develop a strategic plan that will take us into the future. We are looking for more ways to engage advocates, which proves challenging as we grow as an organization and as more people turn to us for support.

We are also supporting initiatives where people fight back against a system that is ignoring our loved ones. We had Moms with protesters in Vancouver giving out safe supply and in Lethbridge supporting volunteers at an unsanctioned overdose prevention site. We had members protest at the steps of the legislature in Winnipeg and in front of government buildings in Victoria. We raised our collective voices in creative ways on overdose awareness day and took our message on-line with billboards showing images of our loved ones and with hundreds of pairs of shoes representing those lost in 2017 on the Burrard Street Bridge in Vancouver and a park in Edmonton.

As we worry about what the winter, the pandemic, and more overdose reports will bring, we have to remind ourselves that each voice is important and collectively we are strong. While we are physically isolated, we can get together as permitted in each region. We can get together on-line. We can educate our family, friends, neighbors, and politicians in a simple way. Share your story, share the story of your loved one. When we open hearts, we open minds, and open minds will more likely understand that it is time for a change.

Petra