Megan Poole had overdosed on drugs before, but surviving a third time was a warning she says she couldn’t ignore.
“Nobody knew if I was going to make it out alive,” she said. “I made a promise to myself, once I got myself into recovery, to be that voice for the people who have lost their voice to this addiction.”
The 26-year-old said she’s worked hard in her recovery for more than two years.
On Monday, she joined others in her hometown of Regina to mark International Overdose Awareness Day at the mâmawêyatitân centre and outside the legislative building.
“We need more people to stand up … people who have been there and who have been able to get themselves up and walk forward,” she said.
“The (overdose death) numbers don’t have to be so high, they really don’t. We all need to come together and take this more seriously before we lose more lives.”
Recent data released from the Saskatchewan Coroners Service suggested the province was on track for a record-high year of drug overdoses in the first seven months alone.
In Regina, police chief Evan Bray said officers have responded to 705 overdose calls as of August 30. He added the number is likely higher, as people can administer Naloxone or Narcan, which can reverse the effects of an opioid overdose.
“Sadly, we have had 60 fatalities since Jan. 1 in our city this year,” he said.
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“And this problem is not going away. This a problem that doesn’t know boundaries in terms of areas of the city, age, geography, culture, race – it doesn’t matter.”
Bray noted the stigma around addiction remains a barrier to treatment, and applauded advocates on their continued efforts to educate the public on the reality of the disease.
He also credited Jenny Churchill, whose son died of a drug overdose, for her advocacy in getting Regina police officers to carry naloxone kits.
“The ability for them to act quickly and swiftly has proved to be very valuable … we have saved 44 lives, our officers have, through the use of Naloxone kits,” he said.
Churchill marked the day by helping unveil a new public awareness campaign created by Moms Stop the Harm.
The image, which will appear on eight Regina Transit buses, shows the mothers of overdose victims standing by a cross. Additional billboards in the city and in Saskatoon will have photos of the moms with their children.
“We are the faces of this crisis,” Churchill said. “We hope the public looks at our pictures, sees the crosses, sees the message that overdose can affect anyone, and it breaks that stigma. Creates some conversation and we can further our work in terms of our advocacy.”
She said one of the immediate areas of concern is the continuum of care for people who overdose.
“When someone has a near-death experience from an overdose, they should not be released from the hospital. They need to get further healthcare,” she said.
Churchill joined others in calling for greater access to harm reduction measures such as take-home Naloxone kits.
Currently, free kits are provided at designated medical centres in Saskatchewan during set hours.
Churchill said with many places closed evenings and weekends, she has obtained her own supply of Narcan spray from an anonymous source.
“If I get a call on a Saturday night, when there’s no free Narcan kits or training available, or on the weekends, I take a spray to somebody,” she said, adding this has happened at least a dozen times.
When asked about the legality of Churchill’s actions, Bray noted Saskatchewan has the Good Samaritan Act.
“What that says is it’s more important to save a life than to focus on a criminal investigation,” he said.
“At the end of day, yes there’s probably proper ways to get a Naloxone kit … but I don’t know if anyone is going to fault someone trying to save a life.”
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