Alberta’s drug poisoning crisis is escalating. Can it be turned around in 2022?
Global News
In terms of the opioid crisis, '2022 will be worse than 2021 if we don't change what we do," said Petra Schulz of Moms Stop the Harm. 'Substances are more tainted than ever.'
Aia Hughes doesn’t want her son to be known as a statistic.
“Ayrton was a very playful, exuberant boy who just loved being the centre of attention. He was always goofy and playing around,” the Edmonton mom told Global News.
On Sept. 22, 2021, Ayrton Hughes died of drug poisoning – one of almost 1,400 drug poisoning deaths counted in Alberta between January and October 2021. He was just 24 years old.
“He was a son, he was a brother, a grandson, a nephew and I think we really need to understand that. We need to look beyond those numbers and look at those people – who they are and what they actually mean to others.”
READ MORE: Alberta’s opioid poisoning crisis approaching deadly record, data shows
Alberta’s drug poisoning crisis is getting worse. There were 685 deaths reported in 2016. By 2020 that number had grown to 1351. With data still not reported for November and December, 2021 has already become the deadliest year of the crisis so far and advocates fear next year could be worse still.
“(This year) will be worse than 2021 if we don’t change what we do,” said Petra Schulz of the advocacy group, Moms Stop the Harm. “We are on a really terrible trajectory, substances are more tainted than ever.”
Schulz believes the answer to the crisis lies in harm reduction and access to a safe drug supply.