Continued conversations about addiction
You might remember a national United Church spring 2021 series on harm reduction and decriminalization of hard drugs. Living Skies Regional Council Executive voted to co-sponsor the series, feeling that the ongoing epidemic of overdose deaths needs to open us to hard but crucial conversations. Many, many people in our communities and communities of faith have been hit by the tragedy of overdose and addiction; this is very much an issue for the church.
In that series, two resources were recommended:
Moms Stop the Harm, a network of Canadian families impacted by substance-use-related harms and deaths. See https://www.momsstoptheharm.com/ and
https://www.facebook.com/MomsStopTheHarm
We were also asked to commend this group and its work through the Regional Council newsletter and website, and are happy to do so.
And, the book Overdose: Heartbreak and Hope in Canada’s Opioid Crisis by Benjamin Perrin. Perrin used to be an advocate of Canada’s current drug laws, but had a change of heart and mind, informed in large part by his Christian faith and the need for a spiritual and legal response to the enormous pain caused by the opioid crisis, and by addictions generally.
