Editor:
Our family lost a son and brother – Ryan, age 26 - to a fentanyl poisoning April 24, 2017. Ryan had just completed 8 months of recovery at the Last Door, a recovery facility in New Westminster.
Ryan was a third-year electrician and had gone back to work when he relapsed and died on his jobsite during his lunch break. Ryan lost his life and our family will be heartbroken for the rest of ours.
If Ryan was coming out of recovery again 2 ½ years later, he would die again as our government and drug policy has not addressed the toxic drug supply. Our BC Coroners Service has recently changed their language used in reporting these deaths.
Illicit drug deaths due to overdose are now illicit drug deaths due to toxicity. British Columbians in communities across our province are being poisoned they are not overdosing.
This new wording that calls it for what it really is now takes the responsibility off the user and puts it on our governments - any other source of toxicity killing over 4,000 in our province and 13,000 in our country would be named and addressed immediately. We have always believed and stated our son was poisoned - he did not overdose.
We are hopeful you will publish this important new information to your readers and it will hold our provincial and federal governments accountable for allowing this poisoning to continue year after year.
John and Jennifer Hedican, Courtenay
