NEWS RELEASE
WELLINGTON GUELPH DRUG STRATEGY
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On Aug. 31, 2021, International Overdose Awareness Day, a memorial will be held at noon at St. George’s Square in downtown Guelph. Throughout Canada, the number of deaths from unregulated and toxic drugs continues to rise. In 2020, 2,600 people in Ontario died from opioid-related drug poisoning.
In Guelph, year-to-date, we have lost at least 11 community members to fatal overdoses. It’s time to remember, and time to ACT. The people who come together on Aug. 31 in our city’s downtown (and online) will be gathering to:
- Bring dignity back to the lives that have been lost to drug overdose by publicly grieving these losses
- Hold a die-in to bring visibility and public awareness to the loss of these community members
- Bring awareness to the current drug and health policies that require people with certain addictions to use drugs that the Controlled Substances Act classifies as illegal, to seek these drugs on the unregulated market and thereby to experience drug supplies that are not standardized and can be toxic
- Share local actions being taken to prevent fatal overdoses and to support the well-being of International Overdose Awareness Day Aug. 31, 2021 people with Substance Use Disorders
- Introduce information about the “I Remember” Memorial that is being built to honour the loss of community members to drug poisoning and to bring year-round visibility to the current drug and health policies that underlie these deaths
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