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Stories from the National Day of Action on the Overdose Crisis

Yesterday marked the National Day of Action on the Overdose Crisis. Demonstrators in Toronto and six other Canadian cities called on government, law enforcement, and the medical community to take further steps to address the harm caused by the growing and deadly use of opioids and other drugs.

Led by organizer and harm reduction worker Zoe Dodd, the event attracted more than 100 participants. The group started at Bay and Wellesley before marching to the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, Toronto Police Service headquarters, the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario and Queen’s Park.

In the last few months, I have photographed a lot of demonstrations in Toronto. Often the mood is one of frustration and anger, as we have seen with Toronto’s anti-Trump rallies. It is easy to get caught up in the fervour of the moment and feel energized. This was not the case on Tuesday. There were moments of frustration, but the mood of the event was generally morose. It was perhaps the most emotionally difficult demonstration I have covered. In what follows are some of the stories I heard that illustrate the mood – and explain why those who use drugs or know people who do want to see change in how the system treats them.

Robert Falconer, 52

“I stand here today for people who can’t, the ones who fell through the cracks or weren’t offered services that should be basic human rights. We have politicians now saying addiction is an illness yet they are not treating it that way. Doctors are handing out opioids to people who don’t need them – for headaches, backaches, sore knees. They’ll be like, ‘Here’s some OxyContin,’ and then cut patients off with no recourse. That’s how I ended up on heroin. It was a progression. Now I’m on methadone. That was supposed to be my way of getting off of heroin, staying on it for six months. But I’ve been on it for 12 years. I take 120 mg of methadone every day and my doctor never asks me if I want to get off of it. He hasn’t steered me to any kind of program to do that either. He’s basically asking the person with the illness to heal himself. In general, hospitals look down on you. As soon as staff find out what you’re there for they won’t even talk to you. Already in the ambulance the attitude is, ‘It’s just a junkie.'”

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Paul Salvatori

Mary Byberg, 54

“This is my daughter Jennifer. She passed away on November 1, 2016 from a fentanyl overdose. Jennifer was a longtime and savvy drug user. It’s been a devastating loss for my family and for our community. Jennifer was more than her addiction. She was a beautiful human being surrounded by those who loved her and cared about her and she loved and cared about, too. I keep hearing things about safe injections sites here in Toronto and other things that can be done. I’m growing really tired hearing about it. It needs to happen. It needs to happen now. I hate the thought of anyone else, any other mother, experiencing what I’m experiencing right now.”

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Paul Salvatori

Thomas Barnard, 58

“I wanted to join the group today in support of all those we have lost due to the unfair treatment of those who choose to use drugs. Quite generally these persons are living in poverty or they are identified as a specific race or ethnicity. I believe this is just a way for controlling a population. If people want to do something, they should have the right to do it. But not only that – we should have the privilege to do so safely and openly. To brand persons as ‘criminals’ allows the establishment to focus on the criminality of our act rather than the humanity of our nature. Can you imagine if all of a sudden drugs were legal? How little work the courtrooms would really have to do? That’s what they’re afraid of. Look at the amount of money that we spend every year in pursuing and prosecuting individuals because they choose to do a drug – marijuana, heroin, cocaine. People using these drugs are dying needlessly because they fear punishment. They become isolated and so lose the ability to communicate and relate to those who don’t choose to use drugs. You’re stuck in a nowhere land.”

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Paul Salvatori

Zoë Dodd, 41

“We’ve never had core funding for harm reduction. Needle exchanges are only open a couple of hours a day the workers are super tired. A lot of them are living in poverty and have experience using drugs themselves. They are amazing but not supported enough, not funded enough to do this life-saving work. We need the resources to continue. We can actually help get a grip on what’s happening if we had them. We also need to stop with the stigma. I think people need to recognize that people who use drugs have complicated relationships to why and how they’re using. We need stop referring to people as ‘addicts’. That strips people of all of their identities. They’re people’s kids, people’s partners, people’s parents.”

More images from yesterday’s National Day of Action on the overdose crisis:

Don’t miss: the answer to Canada’s opioid overdose crisis? Legalize hard drugs

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