Two events in Guelph and Mount Forest will focus on the dangers of drug poisoning next month.
This will be the first year the organization will host multiple events, offering people the chance to grieve and honour those lost to the the opioid crisis.The event will make its debut as Drug Poisoning Awareness Day, shifting over from the former name of "Overdose Awareness Day." Drug Poisoning Awareness Day will be Aug. 24 in Mount Forest and Aug. 31 in Guelph; the dates were announced this week by the Wellington Guelph Drug Strategy.
The Mount Forest event will be educational and interactive, featuring a list of speakers, as well as grieving exercises. Attendees will be able to call out the names of those they've lost and/or dedicate a special piece of music to that person.
Adrienne Crowder, manager of the Wellington Guelph Drug Strategy, stated that deaths resulting from drug poisoning could be prevented. She she believes issues could be avoided by viewing these substances in a different light.
"If you had lettuce sitting on the shelf at Food Basics and it had salmonella or e-coli or something, it'd be pulled right off - no question, that day," Crowder pointed out.
"We're sitting, day after day, after day, watching the same thing happen, and the powers that be that could actually make those choices are not taking action. So, that's why every death is a drug policy failure," she added.
Crowder also said people who use these drugs often don't get what they were expecting. It may be a different strain, it may be too high a dosage. Crowder says these issues exist due to an unregulated market.
She encourages anyone and everyone to attend events like these ones, regardless of whether they feel the issue pertains to them or their specific situation. This is a broad health issue, she says.
"The folks who are not directly impacted- they don't use these types of drugs, they don't know people who do- often people will go, 'well it's not my business,'" Crowder stated.
"I would just invite people to think that the health of our community is our business. The average person in Waterloo a year ago who was using substances and was homeless, needed $120 bucks a day to buy that," she elaborated.
In Canada, 30 people lose their lives daily to opioids. Crowder added the issue is prominent locally. She points out eight deaths a day occur across Ontario on average and 13 lives have been lost this year alone in Guelph.
As a community, everyone is affected, according to Crowder, who urges all to make an effort to get involved with events like these ones.
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