As the toxic drug crisis continues to ravage communities across British Columbia, the town of Sooke is preparing to mark International Overdose Awareness Day with a solemn yet hopeful event. Scheduled for Saturday, Aug. 31, the gathering aims to remember lives lost, support those still struggling, and educate the community on harm reduction strategies.
The event, organized by local advocates Ben Goerner and Melanie Cunningham, comes at a critical time. Despite a slight decrease in overdose deaths in recent months, the crisis remains a pressing public health emergency, with an average of six lives lost daily to contaminated, unregulated substances in the province.
As preparations for the event are underway, organizers reflect on the impact of the crisis and the importance of community action.
"We are excited and apprehensive all at once to put this event on once again," said Goerner, who is organizing the event in Sooke with Cunningham, one of the founding members of the Sooke branch of Moms Stop the Harm. "Despite a slight decrease in overdose deaths over the past couple of months, we are still faced with almost six people per day dying from an unregulated contaminated supply of illegal substances."
International Overdose Awareness Day remembers lives lost during the ongoing crisis while searching for ways to stem the tide. Cunningham lost a son and is doing her best to support a son who is struggling with substance health issues, Goerner noted.
"She is very active with supportive housing here in Sooke, with Moms Stop the Harm and providing support for families through Healing Hearts and Holding Hope, both developed by Moms Stop the Harm, that are now nationwide," said Goerner, a retired mental health and substance use clinician who also struggled in the past with substance health issues.
Goerner has been a vocal advocate for drug policy change, especially with treatment programs, since his retirement, and plans to launch a SMART Recovery support group at Hummingbird Place, a housing society in Vancouver, in October.
"First and foremost, the event is meant to honour and remember those who have fallen to the war on drugs and the increasing toxification of street drugs as a result," Goerner explained. "Equally, it is meant to provide support and hope for those people who still struggle with substance use health issues and their families who do their best to support them."
The event will provide plenty of information about resources available in the south Island region, and life-saving Naloxone training will be provided throughout the evening. Speakers include members of Sooke council and T’souke First Nation. People with past and current experience will share a small part of their stories, and there will be entertainment provided by local musicians throughout the evening. A candlelight vigil with non- flammable candles and a 'say their name' ritual will conclude the event.
"Melanie and I are grateful for the great assistance we've received for the event from Island Health, T’sou-ke First Nation, the Sooke Lions Club and many others who have been so supportive in the previous years,'" Goerner said.
The event, held on the last day of Overdose Awareness Month, runs from 4 to 8 p.m. on Saturday at the kiosk at Evergreen Mall.
The numbers: Stats about the toxic drug crisis
• In May of 2024, 181 people died from unregulated drug use in B.C., and another 185 succumbed to the scourge in June.
• Data released by the BC Coroners Service shows toxic drugs claimed the lives of at least 192 people in March, and at least 572 lives in the first three months of 2024. That reflects an 11 per cent decrease in the number of lives lost when compared with March 2023 (215), when an average of 6.9 people died each day from toxic drugs. There were 6.2 deaths per day tied to the unregulated drug supply in March of this year.
• So far in 2024, about seven in every 10 of those who have died from toxic drugs were between the ages of 30 and 59. While nearly 75 per cent of those killed have been males, the rate of death among females is climbing year over year: 23 deaths per 100,000 in 2024, compared with 20.6 deaths per 100,000 females for all of 2023.
• For people in B.C. between the ages of 10 and 59, unregulated drug toxicity is the leading cause of death, accounting for more deaths than homicides, suicides, accidents and natural disease combined. Since the public health emergency was first declared in April 2016, at least 14,400 people in the province have lost their lives to toxic drugs.
