Today is Overdose Awareness Day, which is being recognized with a series of events at Echo Centre.
A locally produced documentary will premiere at noon, followed by a first-person account of drug addiction and stigmas at 3
Organizer Mary Claire Masicotte says today is about education.
“It’s about educating ourselves about what services are needed in our community, and educating ourselves about who we should be targetting our messages to,” she said.
She said 47% of all deaths are men between the ages of 30 to 59 using alone in private residences, and not the more visible people on the streets.
Masicotte says more than 1400 British Columbians have died from an overdose already this year.
“1455 from January to July is a lot of deaths in BC,” she said. “Our stats seem small but it’s it’s actually very large because it’s a large problem for our community.”
9 people have died of drug overdoses in Port Alberni already this year, and she believes this will be another year of unprecedented deaths due to fentanyl and the troxic drug supply.
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