Sudbury event calls for drug policy reform

On Wednesday, Reseau Access Network held an event in Memorial Park in downtown Sudbury as part of the Support, Don't Punish Global Day of Action.

Organizers said the grassroots event aims to create awareness about harm reduction and drug policies that prioritize public health.

"We really want to bring light to the fact that current drug policies are resulting in a lot of death among people who use drugs and these deaths can be avoided," said Kaela Pelland, director of peer engagement with Reseau Access Network.

Reseau is the service provider for the Supervised Consumption and Treatment Services Site in Sudbury and set up an information tent to connect with people about services offered there.

"It really is a low-barrier, laid-back place. If they want to connect with other services, they can,” said Amber Fritz, the manager/supervisor of the site.

“We have case managers on-site to assist them with housing, getting identification, food security any of that. And if they chose not to access any of those services, that is fine, as well. It's not a coercive environment.”

Monarch Recovery Services was on hand to encourage people to see past the stigma of reaching out for help with substance use.

"Sudbury has a lot of stigmatization towards people who use substances," said Johanna Shayer, an addiction case manager with Monarch Recovery Services.

“On a day-to-day basis, we are seeing a lot of stigmatization of a lot of different people in our community. And we really want to meet people where they are at and make sure that they have a friendly face when they enter into an agency.”

One booth was a letter-writing campaign to Premier Doug Ford to regulate the sale of drugs to stop the toxic supply.

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"Research shows that the decriminalization, the legalization and regulation of all substances greatly decreases the risk of people purchasing toxic drug supply," said Pelland.

Organizers said it's a timely event as northern Ontario continues to have the highest rate of drug toxicity deaths in the province.