A safe drug supply and stopping stigma around addiction are what’s needed to save lives from Canada’s toxic drug crisis, says the North Island-Powell River MP.
Rachel Blaney made a member’s statement in Parliament on May 12, pointing out that in the last six years, nearly 25,000 Canadians have died from apparent overdoses. She pointed to a recent national report showing that fewer than one in four people struggling with substance use accessed services for help.
“Many constituents have talked to me about safe consumption, knowing that safe supply is there to address what is killing their loved ones, the toxic drug supply. This is not a treatment for addiction. It is an intervention to keep people alive,” she says. “There is nothing I would not do to keep someone alive long enough to consider treatment. To save lives we must stop the stigma.”
Blaney says Moms Stop the Harm, a Victoria-based group with national reach, is working to help their loved ones and others struggling with addiction. The group also works to change government drug policies, and provides peer support to grieving families.
