Why one Windsor, Ont. woman says everyone should be marking Overdose Awareness Day

Aug. 31 is recognized as International Overdose Awareness Day – a day for remembering those who have died from overdose and having tough conversations aimed at dispelling stigma.

For Lacie Krzemien, those tough conversations are happening everyday.

She says overdose has taken five of her friends and one of her family members — her cousin.

“She died too soon and she died alone,” Krzemien says.

She says she believes many deaths, including her cousin, could be prevented if only by doing away with the taboo nature of overdose.

“People are dying because they’re too scared or they have shame or they’re still stigmatized by even family members,” she says.

Krzemien says her cousin was in recovery when she overdosed and had a slip up that cost her life, a tale that is becoming increasingly more common.

She says she doesn’t know anyone whose circle hasn’t been touched by overdose.

“People think, ‘Oh, it's someone who has an addiction problem or maybe someone who's struggling with homelessness,’” she says. “That's not the reality, actually. The reality is, is our community members are dying and they're dying within their residence.”

Krzemien spent the majority of International Overdose Awareness Day hosting a vigil downtown, having taken a position with Pozitive Pathways Community Services in Windsor.

Pozitive Pathways gave residents two options to remember those lost to overdose this year, a physical memoriam wall and a virtual one that offers anonymity.

With harm reduction being a branch of their work, the group says they’re seeing first hand how severe the opioid epidemic is getting.

“It's bad out there,” says Claire Venet-Rogers, the organization’s harm reduction community education coordinator. “It's really, really bad out there.”

Venet-Rogers says, even having worked in the field for years, each memorial message takes her breath away.

“There's always this moment where I'm recognizing this is a person. They were complex, they were loved,” she says.

She adds that they’ve seen the epidemic grow exponentially worse through the COVID-19 pandemic, and that a simple thing everyone can do to help and potentially save a life is to learn how to use a naloxone kit.

Many pharmacies offer the kits for free to those with a valid health card, while places like Pozitive Pathways will give them out without one.

Venet-Rogers says they can teach you how to use them in about two minutes.

Krzemien says she always has one nearby – never sure when it could be needed.

She says anyone thinking they’re removed from the epidemic is fooling themselves, telling CTV News Windsor, “If you think it's not your problem, I pray that it never has to be.”