Cranbrook community marks seventh anniversary of toxic drug crisis

A sizeable crowd gathered at Christ Church Anglican on April 14 to honour and remember loved ones lost to drug overdoses.

The event brought together church staff, local advocates, Ktunaxa Nation citizens and community members, along with organizations including ANKORS and the East Kootenay Network of People Who Use Drugs (EKNPUD). Ktunaxa First Nation opened the ceremony with a smudge and an honour song, and as the afternoon progressed, various individuals approached the pulpit to deliver words of recognition.

“Addiction is like a spider web. You can’t see it, but it affects everyone it comes into contact with,” Jessica Lamb, co-founder of EKNPUD, told the crowd. “This drug poisoning crisis isn’t just about the person who uses substances. It’s about the family members. It’s about the people who are working in the community to try and make a difference in somebody’s life.”

The impacts of the toxic drug crisis are heart wrenching.

“It’s kids growing up with out parents, moms having to reach out and ask if their child wanted to be cremated or buried. Those are the impacts of the drug poisoning crisis right now,” Lamb said.

The memorial also included a moment where the names of those who have been lost to the crisis were honoured and remembered.

Since the drug toxicity was declared a public health emergency in 2016, B.C Emergency Health Services has seen a 75 per cent total increase in annual overdose calls. In 2022, health services responded to more than 2,800 monthly calls related to overdoses, down slightly from the previous year, which saw monthly call levels surpass 3,000 for four months in a row.

When the B.C Coroner’s Service reviewed completed cases from 2019 to 2022, it found that that the top four drugs relevant to overdose deaths were fentanyl, cocaine, methamphetamine and opioids.

There have been 86 fatal overdoses in the East Kootenay — 45 in Cranbrook — due to the toxic drug supply over the last seven years, according to BC Coroners Service data.

ANKORS East Kootenay is working to increase safety for drug users through a discreet and confidential program that allows users to drop off a drug they are taking to have it screened for ingredients that could increase the margin of harm.

“You’re able to see exactly what you’re putting into your body. If you know what’s in it, you know if you’re allergic to it or you know if it doesn’t work with the antidepressants you’re taking. Then you can make an informed choice,” ANKORS team lead Polly Sutherland told the Townsman.

Sutherland said ANKORS is currently pushing for a regulated supply of drugs, so that users can gain access to it through a legal and medically conscious supplier rather than buying it off the street.

“That would be a big change in our community,” she said.

@gfrans15
gillian.francis@cranbrooktownsman.com
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Drugs Health opioid crisis overdose