Re: ‘This is an emergency’: Small group of Nelson residents honour lives lost from toxic drug crisis, Aug. 31
It’s rather unfortunate that it took the overdose of a personal acquaintance for our MLA to recognize that the 10,168 British Columbians who have died since the toxic illicit drug crisis was declared a public health emergency might be good people, too, and therefore worthy of her attention.
Ms. Anderson’s silence on this issue has been notable, especially given her role as the Premier’s Special Advisor on Youth — overdose/illicit drug poisoning being the top cause of death for young adults in BC and the top preventable cause of death for children.
As to Ms. Anderson being “undecided on how safe supply should be approached,” we at Kootenay Insurrection for Safe Supply would be happy to prepare a presentation on the various options, including the compassion club model KISS will be implementing in Nelson, which has the endorsement of the BC Coroners Service, the BC Centre for Substance Use, the First Nations Health Authority, UBC Division of Social Medicine, the Canadian Drug Policy Coalition, former BC Public Health Officer Perry Kendall, and current Deputy PHO Reka Gustafson, among others.
Dylan Griffith
Kootenay Insurrection for Safe Supply