Prince George residents rallied outside the Courthouse to protest the decriminalization of substances.
The Support Don’t Push campaign is a global initiative aimed at bringing an end to the harm caused by the “War on Drugs”, that includes incarceration, marginalization, and oppression.
“Other countries have put this model into place, like Portugal who is our most highly spoken example of this, and drug use does not increase, crime does not increase, and the facts are there whether you believe it or not,” says Harm Reduction Advocate Jordan Harris.
“Substances have been used since the beginning of time and it is always going to happen, people are always going to use substances. We want to live in a society where people can do so safely, without living in fear and without living in fear of dying,” added Harris
Corinne and Vern Woods held up a sign of their son Tony who died of fentanyl poisoning and say the government needs to recognize people who have mental health issues.
“For their own lack of health, there are no resources to help them deal with the issues that they are struggling with. Instead of turning to health professionals and getting some medicine they self-medicate with drugs and sometimes those drugs have poisons in them,” says Corinne.
Chalk drawings of people were laid out in front of the Courthouse to represent the 24 people who have died from opioid-related overdoses in PG this year.
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