IN NEWS

2024-52

• April 19, 2024 - Arlene Last-Kolb is the mother of a man who died from fentanyl poisoning. Manitoba's mobile OPS by Sunshine House report on the success of the program. We need more services for people who use drugs.

  "there is a piece of me and my family that is missing. these deaths are preventable" A powerful message

2024-51

• April 19, 2024 - 'Can't keep letting fentanyl win': Safe supply of drugs needed to fight Winnipeg's crisis, says advocate 'Let's not call it safe supply... Let's call it doing the right thing': Arlene Last-Kolb (MSTH member and advocate - Winnipeg, MB

2024-50

• April 15, 2024 - Video and Text - Manitoba's opioid-related deaths spiked nearly five-fold by 2021. There were 54 deaths in the province in 2019 and by the end of 2021, there were 263. "In Manitoba, 70 per cent of opioid toxicity deaths in 2019 had fentanyl or fentanyl analogues detected, increasing to 86 per cent in 2020," the report said. Arlene Last-Kolb, a member of Moms Stop the Harm, lost her son Jessie to fentanyl drug poisoning in 2014. She said the toxic drug supply is one of the main issues that needs to be addressed.

2024-49

• April 15, 2024 - Arlene Last-Kolb, one of the people behind the “Gone Too Soon Memorial Garden” has been calling for safer drug supply since she lost her son to Fentanyl when he was just 24. “Right now, we have a toxic drug supply on our streets, mostly fentanyl that is killing people everyday. People do not know what they are getting in their drugs,” said Arlene Last-Kolb, Moms Stop The Harm. “Where else where we have this level of toxicity on our streets and allow people to keep taking it.”

2024-48

• April 15, 2024 - Moms Stop The Harm co-founder on the eighth anniversary of B.C. toxic-drug emergency Leslie McBain, a co-founder of Moms Stop The Harm on Pender Island, says it is even harder now to promote the safe supply of lifesaving drugs because of opposition promoted by conservative politicians.

2024-47

• April 15, 2024 - A new study was published Monday in the Canadian Medical Association Journal. Senior author Tara Gomes said one in four deaths involved people in their 20s and 30s. More than 70 per cent of the overall deaths were among men. MSTH member Tanya Hornbuckle of Edmonton said her son Joel Wolstenholme was 30 when he died in 2022.

2024-46

• April 12, 2024 - Voluntary, evidence based treatment, legal alternatives to illicit toxic drugs, and listening to the voices of those who use drugs will drastically reduce deaths. "Recovery is what we hope for, but recovery has to be voluntary, evidence based and it has to be accountable. Funding organizations that are not accountable to the public with little data on effectiveness, is deadly.” Petra Schulz

2024-45

• April 2, 2024 - “I am very encouraged by what I heard today,” said Arlene Last-Kolb, Manitoba Moms Stop the Harm member which is a group of parents who have lost children to drug overdoses. “We are talking more about harm reduction than we ever have in the past.”

2024-44

• April 1, 2024 - Member and Advocates Spotlight: Meet Kathleen Baleja from Ontario, Samantha Ginter from Alberta and Lana Greene from British Columbia and learn more about them and the work they do in their community to support others and to advocate with Moms Stop The Harm.

2024-43

• March 29, 2024 - Protesters fighting to reopen Windsor, Ontario’s SafePoint held a rally and vigil Thursday outside the shuttered drug consumption and treatment service site after the Ontario government denied it interim funding pending an indefinite review. Kathy Moreland.

2024-42

• March 28, 2024 - Thursday’s event was organized by Ryan’s Hope, Engage Barrie, Supervised Consumption Save Lives, Moms Stop The Harm, and The Canadian Drug Policy Coalition. Barrie, Ontario

2024-41

• March 27, 2024 - Manitoba is seeing a rise in the number of drug-related deaths in the province. Advocates say unless more is done to make the province’s drug supply safer, some neighbourhoods could see a greater loss of life. Memories of her son are scattered across Arlene Last-Kolb’s home. It’s been ten years since she lost her son Jessie from Fentanyl.

2024-40

• March 26, 2024 - Tensions high ahead of council's vote to build affordable housing or save Stoney Creek parking in Hamilton, Ontario. A growing encampment outside city hall has sprung up in response to the issue. Angela Vos

2024-39

• March 26, 2024 - “There are going to be many people destroyed by this, the rippling effect of it, the loss. It will change them forever,” Manitoba, Arlene Last-Kolb.

2024-38

• March 25, 2024 - “I don’t know how much evidence we need to say we have to do more”– Manitoba, Arlene Last-Kolb

2024-37

• March 7, 2024 - Traci Letts – who volunteers with the advocacy group Moms Stop the Harm – worries that misinformation and moralizing about the nature of addiction are barriers that no court decision can overturn. “The people dying are the children of lawyers and doctors. They’re hockey players or baseball players. They’re the parents that take their kids to hockey and baseball. They’re family men. They’re women trying to make it through the day, working two jobs.”

2024-36

• March 1, 2024 - A Toxic Year Part 4 - Chris's story: Struggling in private, dying in public, a 'minute-by-minute' battle with addiction 52-year-old among a growing number dying from drug poisoning in a public place

2024-35

• February 29, 2024 - Euan Thomson, leads Each+Every, a national coalition of businesses seeking more inclusive communities ready to respond to the drug poisoning crisis. 2023 will unfortunately be a record-breaking year. Think back to other crises that have affected the world - AIDS deaths in 1995 was a total of 1764 in Canada. We will have that number in ALBERTA in one year not in the country! Where is the sense of urgency?

2024-34

• February 29, 2024 - 198 people died from toxic drugs in B.C. in January: coroner's service. Moms Stop The Harm mentioned in the image.

2024-33

• February 28, 2024 - We demand accountability from the ERC We demand full and equitable access to healthcare, including mental health and substance use care, in all federal and provincial prisons and jails and in remand centers. We demand non-carceral alternatives for people with a mental health crisis and in need of substance use treatment! We demand care not cuffs!

2024-32

• February 28, 2024 - A Toxic Year Part 3 - Lisa's story: One of so many lost as opioids claim Indigenous lives at alarming rate Lisa Red Young Man had a giving spirit, struggled with addictions in her adulthood

2024-31

• February 27, 2024 - A Toxic Year Part 2 - Jordan's story: 'No parent should have to bury their kid' 15-year-old girl's father struggled to get her help, break generational cycle

2024-30

• February 26, 2024 - Look to safe supply research, not disinformation campaigns, London, ON doctor pleads with Ottawa Federal health committee asked experts about benefits and risks of using safe supply to treat opioid crisis - Andrea Sereda

2024-29

• February 26, 2024 - Fatality inquiry into remand death. An inquiry is underway in the death of a man (TJ McConnell) at the Edmonton Remand Centre last year. Amanda Anderson reports. - Lana Greene, MSTH Member

2024-28

• February 26, 2024 - 'Scared I’m gonna lose my life': Fatality inquiry begins into death of Edmonton remand inmate who sought addictions, mental health help. "There are a lot of inmates sitting in the remand centre right now on regular units who have several risk factors for suicide" - Lana Greene, MSTH Member

2024-27

• February 26, 2024 - Mental health worker says team overloaded at time of inmate death in Edmonton jail. Family, advocates of man (TJ McConnell) who died at Edmonton's Remand Centre calling for reforms - Lana Greene, MSTH Member

2024-26

• February 26, 2024 - Video and Article - A fatality inquiry got underway Monday morning into the death of a 23-year-old man who died by suicide in a solitary cell at the Edmonton Remand Centre. Timothy McConnell, better known as TJ, took his life in January 2021 - Lana Greene, MSTH Member

2024-25

• February 26, 2024 - A Toxic Year Part 1 - Stephen's story: 'He might be here today if he would have had a safer supply' An active, curious toddler. A smart, shy child. An adult who struggled with addiction - Brenda Gaunt, MSTH Member

2024-24

• February 26, 2024 - Co-founder and ally Euan Thomson of EACH+EVERY on the failure of the UCP’s “Alberta Model” to address the record number of toxic drug poisonings and deaths in the province

2024-23

• February 26, 2024 - Statement on Death of Timothy McConnell (“TJ”) at Edmonton Remand - Professor Ben Perrin

2024-22

• February 23, 2024 - Take 15 minutes to watch The National’s exceptional story about The Alberta Model. In the face of a record number of toxic drug deaths, Alberta is moving away from harm reduction and doubling down on treatment and recovery. The National’s Ian Hanomansing breaks down the Alberta model and why the province thinks it's the best way to solve the drug crisis Sarah Auger - MSTH member

2024-21

• February 23, 2024 - More than 4 Albertans died — each and every day — from opioids in 2023 These 4 represent the loss from just a single day last year, the deadliest on record - Brenda Gaunt, MSTH member

2024-20

• February 22, 2024 - A Toxic Year Part 1 - Stephen Wakeman was an active, curious toddler and a smart, shy child. He was also an adult who struggled with addiction. His parents say he knew the risks of street drugs but his addiction was too strong - Brenda Gaunt, MSTH member

2024-19

• February 22, 2024 - Research Paper The impact of an unsanctioned compassion club on non-fatal overdose - Jeremy Kalicum

2024-18

• February 22, 2024 - What’s Wrong With Rehab? The lack of accountability in the “Alberta Model” for dealing with drug use - Euan Thomson

2024-17

• February 20, 2024 - Edmonton detox unit moving; supervised consumption site future unknown. Petra Schulz says there is a need for more beds. She was recently trying to find detox space for someone in the province - Petra Schulz, MSTH Co-Founder

2024-16

• February 18, 2024 - Red Deer, AB., city council has made history as the first in Canada voting to close an overdose prevention site - Euan Thomson

2024-15

• February 16, 2024 - Red Deer council passes motion asking province to close overdose prevention site. Motion passes after two days of debate and presentations from the public

2024-14

• February 15, 2024 - Red Deer, AB city council hears passionate support for overdose prevention site. Those who want it shut down also get heard at Thursday public hearing - Wendy Little, MSTH member

2024-13

• February 14, 2024 - Richmond, BC Green Lights New Safe Consumption Site Despite Misinformation Fueled By Pierre Poilievre’s Conservatives

  Consumption site was opposed by some residents who echoed right-wing talking points pushed by Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre

2024-12

• February 14, 2024 - Richmond Will Look into Expanding Its Harm Reduction Services After heated public hearings, the city passed a motion to assess opening its first supervised consumption site

2024-11

• February 13, 2024 - Alberta drug deaths soar to highest level ever recorded

2024-10

• February 13, 2024 - Video: Emotions run high at Richmond discussion about safe-consumption site. Compassion for people struggling with substance use but fear of drug use being normalized were some of the messages conveyed to Richmond city council

2024-09

• February 13, 2024 - Advocates say proposed public space bylaw targets city's vulnerable in Edmonton, AB. - Petra Schulz, MSTH Co-Founder

2024-08

• February 7, 2024 - Latest Harm Reduction Proposals Good But More Needed. Leslie McBain of Moms Stop the Harm says more needs to be done to get people into the programs being offered and to expand services - Leslie McBain, MSTH Co-Founder

2024-07

• February 3, 2024 - This short documentary follows the late 2023 raids and arrests against the Drug User Liberation Front (DULF) and the Medicinal Mushroom Dispensary in Vancouver, Canada. Meet the brave activists creating a safer drug supply - leading and protecting their communities despite threats from politicians and attacks from the cops

2024-06

• January 31, 2024 - Sturko doesn’t understand the point of the three year pilot, which is to prevent people in possession of a small amount of drugs from entering the criminal justice system. “It’s primarily to keep people who use drugs out of the criminal justice system,” McBain said. “It doesn’t actually have an impact on the number of deaths in B.C.” - Leslie McBain - MSTH Co-Founder

2024-05

• January 30, 2024 - People who died from drug overdoses account for more than one-third of deceased organ donors in British Columbia, which set a record for donations and transplants last year. Debbie Picco from MSTH speaks about her son’s death and organ donation.

2024-04

• January 24, 2024 - British Columbia's outgoing chief coroner says it's been "extremely disappointing" to see overdose deaths turned into "political fodder" for critics of harm reduction and decriminalization as the province hits another record toll.

  Lisa Lapointe announced Wednesday that 2,511 people died of suspected illicit drug poisoning last year, the highest annual number recorded. Close to 14,000 people have died since the province declared a public health emergency in April 2016, Lapointe told a news conference.

2024-03

• January 23, 2024 - Chatelaine Magazine - Meet The Moms Pushing For A New Approach To Canada’s Opioid Crisis. Canada’s opioid crisis has seen more deaths—and mourning families—than ever. Tired of tough-on-crime policies that don’t work, a new wave of mother-led activists is pushing back.

2024-02

• January 22, 2024 - Samantha Ginter, member of the Moms Stop The Harm network, shared how she lost her partner and father of her children in 2021 to what she calls “failed drug policies”.

  She says she currently has family members and friends who use the OPS and believes it is an important tool to keep people safe and families together while connecting people to services they may not otherwise have access to.

2024-01

• January 15, 2024 - Comment: Prohibition is killing 20 Canadians every day. The reality is that the prohibition of drugs ensures organized crime is the sole provider of toxic drugs - John and Jennifer Hedican (MSTH Members)