Are you numb to the toxic drug crisis? Here’s why & what to do

“I can’t believe it’s been eight years, and so much remains unresolved.

My husband and I started Hope After Dope to address the gaps in the system. I wanted something that could offer extra support. I never thought going into this I would learn so much. It’s one thing to use drugs and alcohol and be homeless and have that lived experience, but it’s another to see what goes on in the system and those gaps.

The terminology and the wording are so important too. Words are so, so powerful. I don’t know how many times I’ve literally yelled at someone in a public place for calling somebody a ‘junkie.’

I think there are a lot of people who are unwilling to educate themselves about toxic drugs and homelessness. They’d rather stay in the dark. People who use drugs are still human beings, whether they're sleeping in the back alley behind a dumpster and using drugs, or they work in an office.”

“People who use substances are humans… struggling mentally with something devastating and who are doing the best they can with what they know. It can be destructive, not just externally but internally too.

[You can] change the us vs. them mentality by honouring each others’ differences and similarities on an individual level. We aren’t different: we just have different experiences and struggles.

Be the voice of the minority when they can’t be there themselves to stand up for themselves… people feel comfortable talking and acting in such a way when it is tolerated. Stop tolerating s***ty behaviour just because the victim isn’t there to see it.

When we stop making it okay for people to act and speak in ways that are harmful to an entire group of people, they will stop feeling comfortable doing so. Those uncomfortable conversations are short-term discomfort that fight the long-term discomfort that occurs when you stay silent to keep the peace.”

“I started working for IBM in 1975 when I was 19 years old. I was a ‘suit’ doing dope every day for 23 years. At 42, I got into crack, attempted suicide and became homeless. People think that those who are dying are only the people you see at Main and Hastings [in Vancouver], the ones you see pushing their possessions around in a shopping cart. I think a lot of people still have the attitude, ‘Oh well, they’re just addicts, they got what they deserved.’

I think the education of children is so important, and a proactive solution to this problem. Making the decision to do drugs or not is the most important decision in everybody’s life, and it is a decision that is usually made when we are young and unknowledgeable. It’s a life-or-death decision, and the worst one I ever made. I want kids to get that decision right, because somewhere along the line, they are going to be faced with the decision if they do drugs or not. It’s going to be a friend, not a guy in a dark alley.

We need to accept the fact people want to alter their moods. Everyone has been traumatized to some degree. But there are other ways to get high. I used to race dirt bikes – that was a pretty good high. That’s what I want kids to know.

My brother, who’s an auxiliary police officer, told me this story about seeing a homeless man next to a dumpster at a gas station who was covered by a tarp in -25°C weather. He said, 'If that had been a dog, people would have been up in arms. But he was a human being, and people just look down their noses at that.'

It’s sad where we’ve gotten to.”

April 14, 2024 marks the eighth anniversary of the toxic drug crisis in B.C. We invite you to reflect on the lives lost, to cultivate empathy for those who are struggling, and to put aside judgement, especially for those you may encounter on your streets.

*These quotes are the opinions of individuals with lived experiences.