A Coquitlam mother who lost her son to a fentanyl overdose is frustrated after attempts to set up a recovery centre were met with pushback from the community.
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Michelle Jansen says she was set to buy a Penticton property to build a treatment centre when the seller pulled out of the deal.
“The neighbours had banded together and decided to buy the property from underneath me,” she said.
Jansen wanted to build the centre in memory of her son Brandon, who died of an overdose in a private substance abuse treatment facility in 2016.
She said this is a clear example of how the stigma around drug use is still alive.
“Clearly these families haven’t had the addiction crisis hit their inner circle,” Jansen said.
WATCH: Inquest looks into Brandon Jansen drug death
The centre was set to open this weekend but Jansen said it will now have to be delayed until the next year.
“A lot of those people on our waiting lists are desperately waiting for treatment,” said Jansen.
“The reality is such that a number of those people will be dead by February.”
More than 1,000 people have died of a drug overdose in B.C. so far this year.