Opioid Crisis demands immediate response from Government

VANCOUVER ISLAND RESIDENTS TAKE OPIOID CRISIS PETITION TO THE STREETS

VANCOUVER ISLAND – Vancouver Island residents, including John and Jennifer Hedican, the parents of Ryan Hedican - a young man who died from an opioid overdose - will be canvassing on Vancouver Island for signatures on a petition to support the call for Canada to address the issue of opioid addiction as a health concern and not as a criminal matter.

Over 7000 Canadians died of opioid overdose in 2016 and 2017. John and Jennifer Hedican’s eldest son Ryan was one of them. He was 26 years old and a third-year electrician. He had completed 8 months of recovery, returned to work, experienced a relapse, and was found unresponsive on his jobsite in Vancouver during his lunch break on April 24th, 2017.

“Relapse is a normal and anticipated stage of the recovery process,” said John Hedican.

“We believe that if Ryan had access to a safe source of narcotics, he would not have died by fentanyl-poisoning that day,” said Jennifer Hedican.

In Ryan’s honour, the Hedicans have partnered with nurse activist Shanyn Simcoe to author a petition to the House of Commons demanding that a system be created to ensure a safe source of substances so that people who use drugs experimentally, recreationally or chronically, are not at imminent risk of death due to a contaminated source.

“As a nurse, I believe that access to a safe, regulated and monitored source is the only solution to prevent overdose and fentanyl-poisoning deaths,” said Simcoe.

Both Simcoe and the Hedicans are astounded at the lack of aggressive action by our Federal government in response to such devastating, preventable and continuing loss. They are asking Canadians to join their call to action by signing the petition and pressuring their MPs to demand that our Prime Minister and government make the policy changes needed to save lives now.

The group is also asking that personal possession be decriminalized to reduce the stigma resulting from the criminalization of substance use. They want our government to adopt a model similar to that used in Portugal, which treats problematic substance use as a health, rather than criminal justice issue.

“We know that fear of stigma and punishment currently prevents people from accessing health care services and treatment, and we are committed to changing this social norm,” said the Hedicans.

Also included in the petition is the request for the opioid crisis to be declared a National Public Health Emergency. The number of preventable overdose deaths to date has far surpassed the total number of deaths of all other public health emergencies in the last 20 years including SARS, H1N1, and Ebola, yet the crisis has not achieved national emergency status. Despite the expansion of the Take Home Naloxone program and the establishment of Overdose Prevention Sites, approximately 4 people die each day from opioid overdoses due to fentanyl-poisoned sources. The highest risk group is males aged 19-49 with 63% of overdose deaths occurring in private residences. 120 Canadians are dying every month, each one a child, sibling, spouse, parent, colleague, client, friend.

The online petition has over 2700 signatures and many paper versions have been completed and sent to sponsoring MP Gord Johns. Johns recently had the opportunity to table the petition in the House of Commons: https://youtu.be/ix4UwSuqL_U. The online petition closes July 25th and the government is required respond within 45 days. This petition has recently been endorsed by the British Columbia Nurses’ Union.

Their goal is to have as many signatures as the number of people who have died due to a contaminated source since 2016.  By the end of 2018, that number is expected to surpass 10,000.

Please sign our online petition at the links below and print off a paper copy to gather signatures and send in as well.  The online petition closes on July 25th, but paper copies can be sent in forever.

Send the message to our Federal Government that they have to take meaningful action NOW.