The community joined with the Ktunaxa First Nation on Saturday, Aug. 31, in a collective effort to raise awareness and offer hope in the face of the present overdose crisis.
International Overdose Awareness Day (IOAD) is a global event held on August 31st each year. It aims to raise awareness of overdose, reduce the stigma of drug-related deaths, acknowledge the grief felt by families and friends, and spread the message that the tragedy of overdose death is preventable.
Some took to the microphone in Rotary Park to share stories of their roads to addiction and the long pathways to recovery.The event was themed “Together We Can,” and aimed to bring together the people of Cranbrook and the East Kootenay in a collective effort to raise awareness
An event like Saturday’s holds a lot more than just symbolic value. Sheila Muxlow, Director of Social Investment with Ktunaxa Nation Council, said IOAD goes a long way, in practical terms, towards lifting the stigma from drug use and addiction.
“It’s so important to have days like this, where we are destigmatizing the fact that drug use is prevalent within so many communities,” Muxlow said.
“It’s not just people who are living rough or in places of poverty. Right across the board, we’re seeing more and more people are using drugs. And days like today help depersonalize when there are risks of addiction and overdose with people who are using drugs, and helps us to see it as more systemic issue.
“To get that sense that we’re not alone, when it comes to being in a relationship or struggling personally with drug use. And there are ways we can get on the path to recovery. Starting with preventing an overdose.”
Muxlow said there is still is a lot of stigma, a lot of pain, a lot of confusion surrounding the use of drugs and the descent of some into addiction.
“It’s hard to understand, sometimes, when our loved ones choose to use drugs, or get caught in a place of active addiction,” she said.
But more and more there is increasing understanding that there are systemic and social factors can happen to anyone.
“Especially with opioids,” Muxlow said. “They were actively prescribed, and continue to be prescribed, because they are effective for short-term pain. But what hasn’t been anticipated, or given enough attention, is that they are easily addictive, and there are really significant supports needed for folks to transition off it if they’ve been on it for a while.
“So that has helped in terms of understanding where the problem has come from.”
And more and more, drug use is understood to be not just among a particular visible and vulnerable aspect of our communities.
“We live in really challenging times,” Muxlow said. “The cost of living continues to go up. For people who are living with poverty or are struggling to make ends meet, it might be more visible if there’s drug use happening in those communities because they are out on the streets and the parks. But we also need to hold there are a lot of people who use drugs behind closed doors. Poverty makes it more visible, but that’s not the only times that it’s happening.”
Muxlow said that there is tangible, real-time feedback to the importance of days like Saturday’s event.
“I’ve heard from a couple people that it’s nice to be able to come together and share their story, and not be judged. It is about recognizing that we are all people here that are trying to move through life the best we can.”
