Nanaimo city council was asked to “follow the footsteps” of Vancouver city council and seek decriminalization of personal possession of drugs within the city’s boundaries.
At the April 25 meeting, Sarah Lovegrove, a former ER nurse, went before council as a member of the community action team against the overdose crisis and noted that April 14 marked six years since B.C.’s overdose crisis was declared a public health emergency.
“In March of 2020, our entire world was stopped when COVID-19 was declared a public health emergency. Sweeping shifts in public health policy were immediately implemented to prevent needless death,” she said. “And after two years of strictly abiding by these evidence-based guidelines, we are now seeing the benefits of listening to science.”
Lovegrove said the pandemic pushed people into social isolation, the severity of which wasn’t recognized until overdose-related deaths skyrocketed.
“Month after month, as this crisis evolves, the data is revealing that the individuals dying are actually middle-aged men, middle-income, and most commonly working in the trades. These individuals are dying alone, at home,” said Lovegrove.
She alluded to the B.C. Coroners Service’s most recent report on overdose deaths that noted that so far in 2022, 86 per cent of illicit drug toxicity deaths occurred inside, including 56 per cent in private residences.
“These trends exist as the result of stigma,” said Lovegrove. “The few programs that exist are inaccessible to most and there is no active safe supply program operating within Nanaimo, putting the onus of finding a willing prescriber on the individual seeking support.”
According to Lovegrove, decriminalization would remove drug use from the criminal justice system and make it a health issue, thereby helping those that struggle with substances get the access to the help they need.
“So to save lives we need to decriminalize the personal possession of substances,” she said. “My plea is that you listen to science and expertise beyond the stigma that you may know, recognizing the power you have to institute life-saving policy change.”
During the council meeting no motion or action was made, however, Coun. Don Bonner invited Lovegrove to submit more information to “get the ball rolling” for possible further discussion.
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mandy.moraes@nanaimobulletin.com
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