Pubdate: Sat, 15 Oct 2016
Source: Vancouver Sun (CN BC)
Copyright: 2016 Postmedia Network Inc.
Contact:  http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/477
Author: Nick Eagland
Page: A22

MOMS MEET TO ADDRESS OVERDOSE 'DEATH CRISIS'

A group of Canadian families devastated by the overdose deaths of
loved ones met for the first time to share their stories and plans for
action.

On Friday, members of Moms Stop the Harm arrived at the Summerland
Waterfront Resort Hotel to launch a weekend of conversation and
advocacy in response to the North American overdose crisis. Until now,
much of the group's work and communication has been limited to social
media and conference calls.

Founder Leslie McBain, who lost her son Jordan in 2014 to opioid
overdose and is consulting with the B.C. government on solutions to
the crisis, said more than a dozen parents and family members from
B.C. and the Prairies are attending.

The focus of the group's work is saving lives through harm reduction.
Its members want more supervised-injection sites and increased access
to the overdose-reversing drug naloxone. They're demanding more
addictions services for the people most vulnerable to overdose, as
dealers continue to cut street drugs of all kinds with deadly
adulterants, particularly the synthetic opioid fentanyl.

This weekend, members will discuss drug issues in their provinces and
share ideas for solutions before meeting with government, health and
police officials to analyze the current response to the crisis.

The B.C. government declared a public health emergency in April and
formed a joint task force in June in response to the crisis. But
McBain believes work is needed to bring more treatment beds to B.C.
immediately.

"I think people are starting to come around to the fact that what we
have is a public death crisis and it's perpetrated by fentanyl, but
fentanyl is really just the Big Bad Wolf," said McBain, a Pender
Island resident. "The parallel problem is that there are not enough
services for the people who are addicted."

Sandra Tully, whose son Ryan struggled with addiction and died in
January after overdosing on a counterfeit OxyContin pill laced with
fentanyl, travelled from Kamloops to meet the other parents, who have
"been an unbelievable support system" for her.

"There is a strength in numbers and we will be a loud force to be
reckoned with. We have lost our children and we don't want anyone else
to lose their child to this," she said.

Kelowna resident Helen Jennens, who lost two sons to overdoses - Tyler
to fentanyl in February and Rian to prescription drugs in 2011 - has
long advocated for improvements in addiction treatment and believes
fentanyl has created a whole new set of problems.

"The fentanyl crisis, I think it just knocked the wind out of
everybody's sails," she said. "It's a death sentence to use drugs."

Communities across B.C. have been pressuring government and health
authorities to establish supervised-injection sites in cities hit hard
by overdose, including Victoria, Surrey and Kamloops.

The College of Physicians and Surgeons of B.C. has increased access to
the opioid-addiction treatment Suboxone, and health authorities have
bolstered naloxone training and distribution. Last month, Premier
Christy Clark announced $10 million in funding for a substance-use
research centre and task force solutions.

But Tully said there is frustration with the speed of the government's
response. With an average of two people dying of illicit-drug overdose
each day in B.C., she believes groups establishing unsanctioned
injection sites deserve praise.

"We're going to have to break rules, we're going to have to ignore
some of the policies to save a life," Tully said.
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MAP posted-by: Matt