Moms Stop The Harm

  • Home
  • About
    • Mission Vision Values
    • Our Team
    • Contact
    • Our History
    • Donate
    • Join
    • Annual Reports
  • Support
    • Holding Hope Support Groups
    • Healing Hearts Grief Support Groups
    • Support and Resources
  • Store
  • Our Loved Ones
  • In News
    • In News 2025
    • In News 2024
    • In News 2023
  • Blog, Events, Actions
    • Blog
    • Events
    • Actions
    • Conferences
  • Harm Reduction
    • What is Harm Reduction
    • Overdose
    • Naloxone
  • Resources
    • Research Project
    • Provincial Resources
    • Youth & Families
    • Anti-Stigma resources
  • Francais
    • Notre Mission Vision et Objectifs
    • Notre Histoire
    • Joignez Le Réseau
    • Pétition concernant la crise des surdoses
    • Ressources
100320_MOMSSTOPTHEHARM_00024.jpg

BC MSTH Day Of Action - April 14th, 2021

April 13, 2021 by Guest User

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

Monday, April 12, 2021 

B.C. REACHES 5TH ANNIVERSARY OF PUBLIC HEALTH EMERGENCY

ACTION REQUIRED ON ILLICIT TOXIC DRUGS

Victoria, B.C. - On April 14, BC Moms Stop the Harm advocates will mark the five-year anniversary date of the public health emergency of the illicit drug epidemic as toxic drug deaths continue to rise.. Advocates in the communities listed below will be gathering to protest and demand that the provincial government urgently provide an immediate life-saving response to end the ongoing deaths. Since the declaration of the provincial health emergency in April 2016, over 7,000 British Columbians have lost their lives due to a toxic, illicit drug supply. 

Moms Stop the Harm is urgently demanding that the provincial government enact an immediate distribution of safe pharmaceutical alternatives to keep people safe while it scales up support to address the needs of those who struggle with a substance-use disorder. British Columbia is losing 5.5 people per day due to a highly toxic drug supply and 2020 has seen a 75% jump in annual overdose deaths. The ongoing number of deaths is evidence that in the past five years our current response to this crisis is not enough to save lives. 

“We are calling on our provincial government to immediately implement a safe and regulated supply of drugs to those people with substance use disorder (addiction),” said Leslie McBain, Co-Founder of Moms Stop the Harm. “Substance-use disorder is the only medical condition for which we force people onto the streets to buy their medicine: illicit, toxic drugs that originate with organized crime.” 

Leading provincial advocates including B.C.’s Provincial Health Officer, Dr. Bonnie Henry, and Chief Coroner, Lisa Lapointe, are stating that more must be done.

"It's a terrible example of a catastrophic failure of public policy, in my mind, which urgently needs to be modernized,” said Donald McPherson, Canadian Drug Policy Coalition.

In her special report in 2019, ‘Stopping the Harm’, Dr. Henry called on the federal government to move toward “regulating access to currently controlled drugs, with a focus on harm reduction associated with the use of those substances, as well as the harms associated with the current prohibition-based regulatory regime and its application.” She also called on the provincial government to implement immediate action, recommending the B.C. government “urgently move to decriminalize people who possess controlled substances for personal use.”

“I applaud efforts made to date in the decriminalization effort, including the work done by the City of Vancouver and Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police, but with more than five people in our province dying each day from this crisis and many more impacted with long-term health impacts from non-fatal overdose events, we need to take bolder action and it needs to be done now.”

The Overdose Crisis Facts! (Coroners Service)

  • 7,000+ people have died since 2016

  • 2020 records the highest total deaths in one year at 1,716 

  • There has been a 75% jump in annual overdose deaths

  • Fentanyl has increased from 5% in 2012 to 82% in 2020 

 Links to learn more: 

  • Moms Stop The Harm  

https://www.momsstoptheharm.com/personal-blog/2021/3/10/i-relapsed-for-3-weeks-on-ne ws-years-eve-and-it-almost-killed-me 

  • BC Centre On Substance Use https://www.bccsu.ca/journal-articles/

  • Canadian Drug Policy Coalition  https://drugpolicy.ca 

Moms Stop the Harm (MSTH) is a network of Canadian families impacted by substance-use related harms and deaths. We advocate to change failed drug policies and provide peer support to grieving families and those with loved ones who use or have used substances. For more information, visit https://www.momsstoptheharm.com. 

Moms Stop the Harm Day of Action scheduled activities with contact information: 

Vancouver

  • MSTH is joining Drug User Liberation Front at 2:00 in Downtown Eastside

  • 1.5 k walk

Contact:  MSTH Advocate, Deb Bailey

604 970-0416

dhbailey@telus.net

Kamloops

  • Walk by visual awareness display

  • Labyrinth shoe display in Riverside Park with the shoes representing the people that have been lost in Kamloops

  • Large window  display recognizing the 5 year anniversary of the declaration of the health emergency in BC

Contact:  MSTH Advocate, Sandra Tully

250-320-1015

sltully99@gmail.com

Powell River

  • “Halt Overdose through Prevention and Education” Display at Powell River General Hospital for the week

  • A 10 person standing vigil will take place in front of the Hospital calling for Action, holding white crosses and signs reading “What’s the Plan?” John Horgan. Participants will be handing out Narcan.  

Contact:  MSTH Advocate, Darlana Treloar

(604) 483-9059

darlana.treloar@gmail.com

Victoria

  • Gathering at noon-1:30 pm at the Parliament Buildings

  • Speakers including Leslie McBain, Dr. Bernie Pauly, Corey Ranger & City Councillor, Marianne Alto

  • Families will be standing a safe distance apart holding portraits of loved ones lost. 

Contact:  MSTH Advocate, Jennifer Howard

250-889-5926

Media Contact: 

Please contact info@momsstoptheharm.com for media inquiries.

April 13, 2021 /Guest User
  • Newer
  • Older

© 2025 Moms Stop The Harm

PO Box 24033, RPO Broadmead, Victoria BC Canada V8X 0B2