As August came to a close, communities all over British Columbia held special events to mark International Overdose Awareness Day – many featuring free public naloxone training, public vigils for the lives lost to overdoses, and personal stories shared by those who survived the grips of addiction.
Skeena MLA Claire Rattée was a fixture of both the Terrace and Kitimat events. She explained to CFNR News that she took the opportunity to share aspects of her own recovery story in the hopes that it may encourage anyone who’s currently struggling to hold on to hope themselves.
“Recovery is possible. I’m living proof of that, and I want that for anyone that’s struggling with substance use. I want to see more people getting into recovery, I want us to build a system that conducive to that, and that promotes a healthier lifestyle. And that starts with addressing a lot of the underlying trauma and mental health issues that people are facing.” – Skeena MLA Claire Rattée on emphasizing the importance of hope during recovery
MLA Rattée noted that while she embraced the opportunity to raise awareness of the substance use crisis, attempts to destigmatize overdose prevention over the past decade have resulted in increasingly callous attitudes toward drug users, as well as a growing sense of apathy among the general public.
“I think that in an effort to destigmatize… it’s almost been more stigmatized, and that’s a problem. What we see now versus 10 years ago, is almost an attitude of normalization of drug use, and policies that, rather than helping them improve their quality of life, are just managing decline. Keeping people alive is not enough.” – Skeena MLA Claire Rattée on stigma surrounding drug use and recovery
In light of that, MLA Rattée said that in order for public attitudes to change, the Province itself needs to strike a balance between those who use hard drugs, and the general public who are left coping with the prevalence of open drug use in public spaces, as well as a rise in petty, drug-related crime.
“People are fatigued from dealing with it, because poor policies have been put in place, like I said, that normalized drug use, and that’s not what the end goal of destigmatizing should be… it should be normalizing recovery, normalizing asking for help.” – Skeena MLA Claire Rattée on destigmatizing recovery
MLA Rattée suggested, in part, that the Province reserve course on it’s decision to decriminalize hard drugs. She said it should instead crack down on the use of hard drugs in public places, in the same way it currently does with public intoxication, while stressing that at the same time, comprehensive supports for those currently in active addiction must remain available.
