Mom mourns death of teenage son to toxic drug supply, government needs to act

Every day is overdose awareness day for Marlyse Williams. She lost her son Logan Williams to the toxic drug supply a week shy of his 17th birthday in 2020.

“For many parents who have lost their loved one or their child, I think it is significant that we’re talking about it, but more needs to be done,” Marlyse said.

Aug. 31 marks International Overdose Awareness Day, a day to remember the thousands of people who have died because of B.C.’s toxic drug supply.

“We are losing so many young people. I run a grief group, and last night, there was two new moms and they both lost their 16-year-olds locally in Vancouver [and] Port Moody. It is happening, and we aren’t talking about it because of the stigma,” she said.

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Williams says stigma is “front and centre of addiction,” which has contributed to there being a limited amount of resources, help, and true action.

“We need immediate, urgent action, just like we had with COVID[-19]. More people are dying of drug toxic deaths than COVID,” she told CityNews Wednesday.

“There should be no waitlist for [children] under 19 [to receive] treatment,” she said, adding that treatment should be long-term, evidence-based, and geared towards particular individuals.

Logan’s death — who Marlyse describes as a funny, loving, spontaneous child who was “truly beautiful inside and out” — was not an isolated incident.

“This can happen to you. … People think, oh, that won’t happen to me, or it won’t happen to my family, and I’m telling you that it can. Drugs do not discriminate,” she said.

Living without Logan is excruciating, Marlyse says, adding “Logan had amazing, bright energy, and it’s so sad because he had such a great future ahead.”

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, exposure to fentanyl may be fatal and is estimated to be 80 times as potent as morphine and hundreds of times more potent than heroin.

Before Logan died in April 2020, Marlyse says there was no help for anyone under the age of majority, saying government services “don’t take it seriously.”

“And that’s who’s unfortunately not using the services, or safe supply, or safe injection or any of those, because they’re still hiding it from their parents that they’re even trying drugs,” she explained. “Teenagers should learn from their mistakes, not die from them.”

In an effort to educate about the dangers of fentanyl contamination in drugs and the toxic supply crisis, Marlyse created a fentanyl public service announcement and shared it on social media.

“The problem with fentanyl is it’s so potent and literally about three salt specks — if that is in whatever drug that you’re taking and ingesting, smoking, injecting — you can die,” she said. “And if you don’t have help, if you don’t have Naloxone, or if you’ve mixed it with something else, you’re gone.”

“It’s like playing Russian roulette. So they might die that day – one time- one pill and the result is death,” she said.

“So many parents ask me and wonder how can they help their child or prevent their child from dying of fentanyl or get into drugs, and I think it’s really important to have those conversations,” Marlyse said. “I created this … little mini commercial, and I’m very proud of it. And I think Logan would be too.”

Compassion club hands out safe supply in defiance of Health Canada

Earlier this month, the BC Coroners Service confirmed the province reached a grim milestone in the toxic drug crisis. A little over six years since the crisis was declared a public health emergency, more than 10,000 people have died.

The service says nearly 1,100 of those deaths were recorded in the first six months of 2022.

And organizers of a Vancouver compassion club say they will continue to distribute safe, tested cocaine, heroin, and methamphetamine despite a rejection from Health Canada, saying it is the only way to save lives in the face of a toxic drug supply.

Eris Nyx, co-founder of the Drug User Liberation Front, says regulating the illicit supply is the answer to stopping deaths.

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Nyx spoke at a press conference marking International Overdose Awareness Day, saying the groups are also seeking a judicial review of the federal decision on the basis that it didn’t consider Charter rights to life and equality.

DULF and the Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users (VANDU) requested the temporary Criminal Code exemption from Health Canada to operate a compassion club model for hard drugs last year, and it was rejected July 29.

Nonetheless, Nyx says the Cocaine, Heroin and Methamphetamine Compassion Club and Fulfilment Centre has operated for one month, distributing 201 grams of drugs with no overdoses or deaths.

Health Canada could not immediately be reached for comment, but a statement commemorating Overdose Awareness Day says the government is investing in safe supply programs, supervised consumption sites, and drug-checking technologies.

Last year was the worst year on record for opioid-related overdoses in Canada, with about 21 people dying every day, Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos and Carolyn Bennett, minister of mental health and addictions, say in the joint statement.

“Still more needs to be done to protect the health and safety of Canadians,” the statement says.

“We remain committed to reducing stigma and continuing to work with all levels of government, people with lived and living experience of substance use, stakeholders, and organizations in communities across Canada to help prevent overdose, save lives, and help all people in Canada live their healthiest lives.”

Political bravery is needed to address toxic supply, consultant says

Karen Ward, a City of Vancouver drug policy consultant, says elected people and others in positions of authority are saying “absurdly meaningless things.”

“We’ll be lucky if less than 2,500 people die in B.C. this year,” she told CityNews. “It won’t be the result of policy choices, because the government is staying its course.”

Ward says it’s irresponsible that the government is not telling the public what the plan is to address the toxic drug crisis.

“I would want a government to inform the public what its plan actually is. What its policy goals are. Where are we going? Governments make policy for the future. Is it clear to the public what that future will be?” she asks.

Ward notes that there are many people across the province who have lost someone close — especially those under the age of 50.

“We are not lacking awareness, that is not holding back solutions. Solving this requires real change — its political bravery,” she said.

– With files from the Canadian Press, Angela Bower and OMNI