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Mothers Stop the Harm rally for decriminalization & safe supply of street drugs

Dr Bonnie Henry released a report in April 2019: “Stopping the Harm: Decriminalization of People Who Use Drugs in BC”.

Mothers Stop the Harm, rally, September 25 2020
Mothers Stop the Harm rally outside the BC Ministry of Health building in downtown Victoria on Friday September 25, 2020 [Island Social Trends / Photo by Kiley Verbowski]
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Sunday September 27, 2020 | VICTORIA, BC [Updated September 28, 2020]

by Kiley Verbowski | for Island Social Trends

Cars were honking and bells were ringing in front of the Ministry of Health building in downtown Victoria on Friday September 25 where the Moms Stop the Harm (MSTM) group was rallying for greater action around BC’s overdose crisis. 

In BC there were 147 fatal overdoses in August. That’s a 16 percent drop from July’s number, but pushes 2020’s death toll ahead of last year’s with still three months still left in the year.

MSTH is a network of families impacted by substance use related harms and deaths across Canada. Their vision includes that the rights of people who use drugs are respected, and that users are not criminalized.

Signs of the crisis:

Mothers Stop the Harm (MSTH) seeking decriminalization of illicit drug use, at a rally September 25, 2020 in downtown Victoria outside the BC Health building on Blanshard Street. [Photo by Kiley Verbowski for Island Social Trends]

Diane McNally, a trustee on the SD61 Board of Education, held a sign above the crowd that read: “Safe supply, Decriminalize, Support don’t punish”. She says that “anyone who uses drugs is deserving of those three things.”

Many supporters carried signs expressing this wish, and leaders and advocates of the organization led the crowd of more than 30 people in a chant: “What do we want?” “Decriminalization!” “When do we want it?” “Now!”

Another sign presented numbers of COVID deaths compared to drug overdose deaths in BC to the end of August, in support of a request for safe supply.

BC currently has two health emergencies — the COVID-19 pandemic and the opioid overdose crisis.

Decriminalization is a start:

Protest in downtown Victoria on September 25, 2020 to push for decriminalization of street drugs and providing a safe supply. [Photo by Kiley Verbowski for Island Social Trends]

City of Victoria Councillor Marianne Alto also attended the rally and said in an interview with Island Social Trends:

City of Victoria Councillor Marianne Alto [City photo]

“Of course decriminalization is not the only answer. But you can imagine if that one thing was done, you would immediately reduce the risk associated with drug use, the need to enter a world of criminality, the lives that would be saved instantly. I cannot fathom why people who have the chance to make that happen would not do that.”

Police chiefs across Canada advocated for the decriminalization of illicit drugs in July, which prompted BC Premier John Horgan to urge Prime Minister Justin Trudeau toward making federal legislation to that end.

Tipping Horgan to an election:

Premier John Horgan announcing the Fall 2020 election, on September 21, 2020 in his home riding of Langford-Juan de Fuca.

Horgan has expressed his sympathies for the families of lost ones. His sentiment on that tipped his decision to call an election this fall when the Green Party didn’t support a bill this summer which would have allowed hospitals to involuntarily keep youth under 19 years old for up to five days following an overdose.

The current election (called on September 21) will see British Columbians voting on the October 24 general election day. There are also seven advance voting days and the option to vote by mail.

There has been ample criticism about the provincial government’s response to the opioid crisis, particularly when contrasted by the funding and efforts allotted to COVID-19. Critics of the equivalency of COVID to the opioid crisis — including the premier — argue that the impacts are wider-spread for the entire economy and society for the long term when it comes to COVID.

MSTH stands with the report Provincial Health Office Dr Bonnie Henry delivered over a year ago titled “Stopping the Harm: Decriminalization of People Who Use Drugs in BC” (April 2019), which they say the province has failed to act on.

Dr Bonnie Henry, Provincial Health Officer
BC Provincial Health Officer Dr Bonnie Henry at her COVID press briefing on Thursday September 24, 2020 in Victoria.

As part of this plan, 1 ,057 people in Vancouver Coastal Health during August were receiving hydromorphone, a prescription alternative, up from 240 at the beginning of the year. Dr Henry said on Thursday that work on the program will continue during the campaign.

However, political push within government of any expansion of safe drug supply programs relies on a Minister of Health being back in place after the election. And in that regard a lot will depend on which party wins.

MSTH does not offer a political endorsement at this time, according to advocate Jennifer Howard. Their goal at the moment is to keep this issue at the forefront of political discussion during this fall’s election.

Looking to the future:

“I hope I never have to see you all again,” Councillor Alto joked into the microphone on Friday afternoon. “But until then, we’ll say how much we love one another.”

MSTH will be hosting another rally next month prior to the election.

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===== About the writer: Kiley Verbowski is a freelance writer who contributes to Island Social Trends.

===== Island Social Trends editor: Mary P Brooke, B.Sc.