Nanaimo & Parksville community groups marking annual day to honour lives lost to toxic drugs

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A market-style booth will be set up at Nanaimo Regional General Hospital on Friday, Aug. 29, from 11 a.m to 2 p.m., featuring a wide array of information about local supports.

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The Oceanside Community Action Team, in partnership with Moms Stop the Harm, will host a similar event at Parksville Community Park on Sunday from 4 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., which will include a candlelight vigil honouring lives lost.

A big focus of both events and the campaign from Island Health overall will be education and training related to Naloxone.

Thompson said the successful intervention to an overdose with Naloxone saves lives.

“With some good training, anybody can actually administer Naloxone. Having that experience of being able to open up an ampule and drop the Naloxone and know where to administer it, it can be quite simple. The challenge is you’re responding to an emergency, and this is going to be frightening, and so having that good training…to take a deep breath yourself and know that you can respond, that’s important.”

Thompson said the experience can be intimidating, but the free training provided is supportive and helpful in alleviating those fears.

This year’s events come amid an overall reduction in deaths linked to drug toxicity in Nanaimo, across central Vancouver Island and in B.C. overall.

Data from the BC Coroners Service shows 32 drug-related fatalities through the first six months of the year in Nanaimo, among 77 throughout the whole central Island region.

At the current pace, far fewer people will die compared to a particularly deadly 2023, where 217 people across the region lost their lives.

Thompson said the downward trend is encouraging, however, the number of lives lost is still “significantly” above the levels seen when a public health emergency was declared in April 2016.

“There are lots of things that might contribute to that downward trend, like Naloxone, encouraging people to reach out for support, trying to reduce stigma, increased access to programs and services help. We know that we are still dealing with the toxic drug supply, which is really causing the heart of the grief here.”

In addition to the events in Nanaimo and Parksville, Island Health in partnership with community groups, is holding similar events in every major Island community beginning Monday, Aug. 25 in Port Alberni.

Support services for mental health, substance use, and grief services are available to Island Health residents by calling the Mental Health and Substance Use Service Link at 1-888-885-8824, or by going to HelpStartsHere.gov.bc.ca.

Meanwhile, Doctors for Safer Drug Policy are holding demonstrations in four cities, including Nanaimo, on Friday.

A march is planned from City Hall beginning at 11 a.m., heading towards St. Paul’s Anglican Church.

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