'They have families that love them': Memorial set up for British Columbians lost to toxic drugs

Vancouver marks Overdose Awareness Day Moms Stop the Harm set up a memorial for loved ones lost to toxic drugs at Kitsilano Beach Saturday to mark Overdose Awareness Day.

Loved ones gathered at Kitsilano Beach Saturday to remember lives lost to toxic drugs. People placed locks on a large metal heart with the names and ages of those who died, and photos were erected along a labyrinth of purple ribbon.

The memorial was organized by Moms Stop the Harm on International Overdose Awareness Day as a safe space to share grief and educate others on the toxic drug crisis.

About six people in B.C. die from drug toxicity every day, and 1,365 have died as of the end of July this year, according to the BC Coroners Service.

“All these deaths are preventable. We need to get safe supply out there,” said Sharene Shuster with Moms Stop the Harm.

Her son Jordan died of an overdose at age 25. She told CTV News his friend introduced him to heroin while he was experiencing depression and bullying as a teenager. Jordan eventually went to rehab and was on the road to recovery, but he relapsed—buying and smoking what he thought was heroin—after learning two of his friends had died from drug use.

“When we found him it was too late,” Shuster said. “He had zero amount of heroin in his autopsy; it was pure fentanyl. The coroner said it was enough to kill an elephant. He didn’t stand a chance.”

She said if there had been a regulated and tested drug supply, her son would not have died, and he’d have another chance at recovery.

“If Jordan smoked heroin that day, Aug. 9, 2018, he’d be alive, guaranteed,” she said.

Traci Letts lost her 31-year-old son Mike in February of this year, and says it all came down to him not knowing what he was taking.

“This is a crisis of an unregulated supply. It doesn’t matter if it’s your first time using or you’re an occasional user,” she told CTV News. “It’s the fact that anyone who purchases from the street or illegal market is at risk of death the moment they buy.

Letts hopes for a more person-centric narrative around the drug crisis, and for people to have more compassion for those who struggle with addiction.

“We aren’t what we do. We are who we are. My son was so many other things, and yes he had an addiction,” she said. “Behind every single person you see, whether it’s in the Downtown Eastside, or other urban centres, or rural communities or in the suburbs, everybody is people first and they have families that love them.”

With files from CTV News Vancouver’s Shelley Moore