Helen Jennens keeps an old photo of her sons - both sporting huge grins, their arms around each othersB次元官网网址� shoulders - on her dresser, near to a metal sculpture inscribed with their names: Tyler and Rian.

ItB次元官网网址檚 a looping infinity symbol and represents the way the two are forever intertwined - in death, as they were in life. Jennens affectionally called the pair who were born just 18 months apart B次元官网网址渟eekB次元官网网址� and B次元官网网址渄estroyB次元官网网址� as children. Their closeness lasted as they grew up to be B次元官网网址渁mazing guysB次元官网网址� and as they developed drug addictions that ultimately killed them both.

To the world, they are statistics of an overdose epidemic first declared a public health emergency in 2016.

To Jennens, they are so much more - her much loved children, whose absence she will never stop grieving. Children, who in death, threw her into a lifetime of advocacy.

B次元官网网址淲e say at Moms Stop the Harm, we donB次元官网网址檛 do this for our kids,B次元官网网址� she said, referring to the overdose awareness advocacy group that sheB次元官网网址檚 a member of.

B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 too late for them. WeB次元官网网址檙e doing it for yours.B次元官网网址�

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There were 1,422 overdose deaths in 2017, a 43 per cent increase compared to 2016, which saw 914 deaths. Up until July of this year there have been 878 deaths, with 134 overdose being recorded in July.

Those deaths mark a 12 per cent increase over the same month last year, and a 25 per cent uptick from June. It equates to four deaths per day.

ItB次元官网网址檚 a figure that should make jaws drop, but Jennens said she thinks the public is becoming desensitized to the death toll.

Instead of the shock she saw a year ago when discussing the crisis, people are almost indifferent. And the stigma that has sent so many people to misuse drugs in the dark corners of society remains intact.

ItB次元官网网址檚 not surprising. Demonizing drug users, allows people to out the issue in the distance. They can say to themselves itB次元官网网址檚 not something they will face or that they need to understand.

ItB次元官网网址檚 a dangerous misinterpretation of the reality.

B次元官网网址淒id I ever think, at this age, my sons would gone B次元官网网址� no,B次元官网网址� she said. B次元官网网址淒id I ever think theyB次元官网网址檇 die of a drug overdose B次元官网网址� no,B次元官网网址� she said.

Nor did she think that the places her children went to heal from injury would be what led to their end.

B次元官网网址淲e had a lot of years of trauma and drama,B次元官网网址� she said. B次元官网网址淩ian, my oldest son, had a drug problem, and then he got into a recovery program and had eight years of being sober before being struck by a truck on his motorcycle,B次元官网网址� she said. B次元官网网址淭he next few years he suffered through multiple surgeries, and the list of prescription drugs he was on was was terrible.B次元官网网址�

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He died in 2011 at age 37 from an overdose of prescription drugs. One day in 2011, Jennens went to his house with a pot of chilli and found him propped up on his bed with his computer on his lap.

B次元官网网址淗e was reading and heB次元官网网址檇 just stopped breathing,B次元官网网址� she said noting that heB次元官网网址檇 been prescribed benzodiazepines, various drugs for insomnia and depression, and opioids for chronic pain while he awaited a second hip replacement.

He was 37 years old. Five years later Tyler died, at age 40. He had ruptured his left Achilles tendon in 2008 while playing football. A lot of surgeries followed and for the pain he was prescribed OxyContin.

B次元官网网址淭hatB次元官网网址檚 when he acquired his opioid addiction,B次元官网网址� she said. B次元官网网址淲hen his brother died in 2011, he turned to heroin.B次元官网网址�

The family then went through four to five years of B次元官网网址渁wful stuffB次元官网网址� trying to help him. B次元官网网址淲e thought he was doing really well and then he picked up on Jan. 14 2016 B次元官网网址� we have all the information in his phoneB次元官网网址� he thought he bought heroin, but it was 100 per cent fentanyl. I donB次元官网网址檛 know if we had gotten to him sooner we could have saved him.B次元官网网址�

At that time, fentanyl was just coming on to the scene and Tyler was considered one of the first reported poisonings. There were no systems in place to catch him as he fell.

Today, thereB次元官网网址檚 more hope in Kelowna for someone who finds themselves in his position. The city now has a mobile supervised injection site, there are public information campaigns aimed at reducing the stigma of drug misuse and the conversation about the risk of fentanyl have become louder, more pointed. Last year the Good Samaritan law was passed and it allows people who fear calling 911 while someone is overdosing a legal shield if they too are on drugs or in possession of them. B次元官网网址淜ids were going to parties and they were afraid to call 911 when someone overdosed,B次元官网网址� she said. B次元官网网址淣ow they can.B次元官网网址�

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For all those positive changes, however, thereB次元官网网址檚 a lot more than can be done. Jennens has raised concerns about the legitimate practices that lead people into addiction and into acquiring an illegitimate stream of drugs. Jennens publicly decried common practices among doctors that she said led to the deaths of her sons.

Had doctors checked their drug histories in the real-time database PharmaNet, which links pharmacies and hospitals to a database that stores information on all dispensed prescriptions? The system is also available to physicians.

She also looks to legalization of possession illicit substances as the way forward.

B次元官网网址淟ook at what theyB次元官网网址檙e doing in Portugal,B次元官网网址� she said. In the B次元官网网址�80s, an estimated one in 100 Portuguese was battling a heroin addition. Overdose deaths were on the rise and HIV infection was the highest of the European union.

In 2001, Portugal became the first country to decriminalize the possession and consumption of all illicit substances. Rather than being arrested, those caught with a personal supply might be given a warning, a small fine, or told to appear before a local commission B次元官网网址� a doctor, a lawyer and a social worker B次元官网网址� about treatment, harm reduction, and the support services that were available to them.

The opioid crisis soon stabilized, and the ensuing years saw dramatic drops in problematic drug use, HIV and hepatitis infection rates, overdose deaths, drug-related crime and incarceration rates. HIV infection plummeted from an all-time high in 2000 of 104.2 new cases per million to 4.2 cases per million in 2015.

Reports say the culture around drug users changed, too. Instead of using the parallel word for B次元官网网址渏unkiesB次元官网网址� people started referring to B次元官网网址減eople who use drugsB次元官网网址� or those with B次元官网网址渁ddiction disorders.B次元官网网址�

This, said Jennens, is a key piece of the puzzle.

B次元官网网址�(Tyler and Rain) probably wouldnB次元官网网址檛 want me talking about it,B次元官网网址� she said. B次元官网网址淭hey were ashamed of what they were doing.B次元官网网址�

If, however, they werenB次元官网网址檛 forced to hide in the shadows, in fear of labels thereB次元官网网址檚 no telling where theyB次元官网网址檇 be.

B次元官网网址淲e believe itB次元官网网址檚 a disorder, a medical illness, not a moral failing,B次元官网网址� she said. B次元官网网址淎nd we want people to treat it with dignity and respect, the same way as anyone with a medical issue would be treated. That is some of what we hope people will start to think about today.B次元官网网址�

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