Tag: Alberta

Woodstein Media Podcast Episode 30: Ruth Fox discusses the loss of her son to drug poisoning, Moms Stop the Harm, and failures of Canada’s drug policy

Posted on by Colin Burrowes

On this episode, Ruth Fox, Regional Director for Moms Stop the Harm, spoke to me about her experience losing her son, Trevor, who died from accidental drug poisoning in his home.
Trevor was 25 years old and had a full and promising life ahead of him in his community. He was a valued employee in a career he enjoyed and was adored by a supportive family and numerous friends.
Ruth became aware of Moms Stop the Harm shortly after Trevor’s death and has found the community of understanding, compassion and support the organization offers invaluable. Through the work the group does, she learned more about the harms caused by Canada’s failed drug policies and the way people who use drugs are treated.

Joe Amero brings depth of lived experience to harm reduction in Toronto shelter system

Posted on by Colin Burrowes

This is the final feature in a three-part series diving into aspects of the opioid pandemic, the overdose crisis, whatever you wish to call it. It is a public health crisis which became exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to Canada’s Public Health database, there was a 95 percent increase in apparent opioid toxicity deaths from April 2020 to March 2021, with a total of 7,224 deaths, compared to 3,711 deaths from April 2019 to March 2020. Since then, deaths have remained high.

These statistics were published in March 2022 and only went as far as September 2021, but by that point, 5,368 apparent opioid toxicity deaths had occurred. This is approximately 20 deaths per day. For a similar timeframe in the years before the pandemic, there were between 7 in 2016 and 12 in 2018 deaths per day.