By Ashley Legere\u2019s count, about 22 people in Sackville and Amherst died between 2020 and 2022 due to unsafe drug supply and overdose. \u201cWe see a lot in the news of downtown eastside Vancouver,\u201d says Legere, but the reality is, \u201cit\u2019s in every small town.\u201d<\/p>\n
Legere is known in Sackville as the driving force behind the town\u2019s harm reduction vending machine, located inside the Main Street foyer of the Sackville United Church downtown. These days, she works for the Cumberland Homelessness & Housing Support Association, where she leads a team providing shelter options and meals to about 45 individuals. On Thursday, she was in Victoria Park in Amherst, helping mark International Overdose Awareness Day.<\/p>\n
In the course of her career so far, Legere has a list of 81 names, all people who have died since 2010 in the Amherst, Sackville and Moncton area, whom she has personally known. The loss is significant, she says, especially when you consider the impact on those left behind. \u201cIt\u2019s their family, it\u2019s their co-workers, it\u2019s their friends,\u201d says Legere.<\/p>\n
The job is tough but Legere isn\u2019t beaten down -- rather, she radiates compassionate energy. \u201cI don\u2019t know what life is if you don\u2019t love people,\u201d says Legere. \u201cAnd feeling the loss of 80 people heavily just means I\u2019ve loved that many people. And I think that\u2019s the whole point, right?\u201d<\/p>\n
Legere figures she has trained about 14,000 people so far on how to administer the life-saving shot Narcan (also known as Naloxone) that can reverse the effects of opioids and prevent overdose deaths. \u201cThat\u2019s 14,000 people who have been able to save lives,\u201d she says, noting that her stepson used a Narcan shot to spare someone from an overdose death this summer. She carries a pack with her \u201cat all times,\u201d and a number of people walked away from Victoria Park on Thursday with kits, and the brief, basic training on how to use them.<\/p>\n
Legere says she is a \u201charm reductionist at heart\u201d, which is why she\u2019s an advocate for safer supply as way to help combat the dangers that are posed by the thriving illegal drug industry.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe celebrate when someone opens up a bar\u2026 we\u2019re so excited for that. But that\u2019s a safe consumption site,\u201d says Legere. And the liquor store? \u201cThat\u2019s the safe supply,\u201d she says, \u201cfor one of the most [deleterious] substances in the whole world.\u201d<\/p>\n
When it comes to cigarettes, cannabis, and prescription drugs, \u201cthese are heavily regulated substances that we look at as acceptable,\u201d says Legere. \u201cThey\u2019re just a part of our culture.\u201d But when it comes to illicit substances, there\u2019s stigma, illegal markets, and danger.<\/p>\n