Helen Jennens keeps an old photo of her sons - both sporting huge grins, their arms around each otherssa国际传媒� shoulders - on her dresser, near to a metal sculpture inscribed with their names: Tyler and Rian.

Itsa国际传媒檚 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 sa国际传媒渟eeksa国际传媒� and sa国际传媒渄estroysa国际传媒� as children. Their closeness lasted as they grew up to be sa国际传媒渁mazing guyssa国际传媒� 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.

sa国际传媒淲e say at Moms Stop the Harm, we donsa国际传媒檛 do this for our kids,sa国际传媒� she said, referring to the overdose awareness advocacy group that shesa国际传媒檚 a member of.

sa国际传媒淚tsa国际传媒檚 too late for them. Wesa国际传媒檙e doing it for yours.sa国际传媒�

Related: B.C. suing drug companies to recoup overdose crisis costs

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.

Itsa国际传媒檚 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.

Itsa国际传媒檚 not surprising. Demonizing drug users, allows people to out the issue in the distance. They can say to themselves itsa国际传媒檚 not something they will face or that they need to understand.

Itsa国际传媒檚 a dangerous misinterpretation of the reality.

sa国际传媒淒id I ever think, at this age, my sons would gone sa国际传媒� no,sa国际传媒� she said. sa国际传媒淒id I ever think theysa国际传媒檇 die of a drug overdose sa国际传媒� no,sa国际传媒� she said.

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

sa国际传媒淲e had a lot of years of trauma and drama,sa国际传媒� she said. sa国际传媒淩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,sa国际传媒� she said. sa国际传媒淭he next few years he suffered through multiple surgeries, and the list of prescription drugs he was on wasterrible.sa国际传媒�

Related: Spike of potential drug ODs on Kelownasa国际传媒檚 party weekends

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.

sa国际传媒淗e was reading and hesa国际传媒檇 just stopped breathing,sa国际传媒� she said noting that hesa国际传媒檇 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.

sa国际传媒淭hatsa国际传媒檚 when he acquired his opioid addiction,sa国际传媒� she said. sa国际传媒淲hen his brother died in 2011, he turned to heroin.sa国际传媒�

The family then went through four to five years of sa国际传媒渁wful stuffsa国际传媒� trying to help him. sa国际传媒淲e thought he was doing really well and then he picked up on Jan. 14 2016 sa国际传媒� we have all the information in his phonesa国际传媒� he thought he bought heroin, but it was 100 per cent fentanyl. I donsa国际传媒檛 know if we had gotten to him sooner we could have saved him.sa国际传媒�

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,theresa国际传媒檚 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. sa国际传媒淜ids were going to parties and they were afraid to call 911 when someone overdosed,sa国际传媒� she said. sa国际传媒淣ow they can.sa国际传媒�

Related: B.C. overdose deaths drop in June, but 100+ still dying each month

For all those positive changes, however, theresa国际传媒檚 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.

sa国际传媒淟ook at what theysa国际传媒檙e doing in Portugal,sa国际传媒� she said. In the sa国际传媒�80s, an estimated one in 100 Portuguese were battling a heroin addition. Overdose deaths were on the rise and the HIV invention was the highest of the European union.

In 2001, Portugal became the first country to decriminalise 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 sa国际传媒� a doctor, a lawyer and a social worker sa国际传媒� 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 sa国际传媒渏unkiessa国际传媒� people started referring to sa国际传媒減eople who use drugssa国际传媒� or other with sa国际传媒渁ddiction disorderssa国际传媒�

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

sa国际传媒�(Tyler and Rain) probably wouldnsa国际传媒檛 want me talking about it,sa国际传媒� she said. sa国际传媒淭hey were ashamed of what they were doing.sa国际传媒�

If, however, they werensa国际传媒檛 forced to hide in the shadows, in fear of labels theresa国际传媒檚 no telling where theysa国际传媒檇 be.

sa国际传媒淲e believe itsa国际传媒檚 a disorder, a medical illness, not a moral failing,sa国际传媒� she said. sa国际传媒淎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.sa国际传媒�

A full roster of the events that start at 9 a.m. and go until 9 p.m. can be found at

Aug. 31 event schedule:

10 a.m. sa国际传媒� 12 p.m. sa国际传媒� Schedule of Speakers sa国际传媒� Evangel Church

• Luke Stack sa国际传媒� Deputy Mayor sa国际传媒� Affirmation of Proclamation of August 31 as Overdose Awareness Day in Kelowna B.C.
• Dr. Jeff Eppler sa国际传媒� Kelowna General Hospital Emergency Physician sa国际传媒� Sharing his perspective on the overdose crisis
• Lawrence East sa国际传媒� Pastor of Metro Community Church sa国际传媒� Personal stories from our community
• Nadine Rigby sa国际传媒� Interior Health Clinician, Substance Use Team Lead sa国际传媒� Interior Healthsa国际传媒檚 response to the overdose crisis
• Stephanie sa国际传媒� Momsa国际传媒檚 Stop the Harm sa国际传媒� Combating stigma and dealing with grief after the loss of a loved one to overdose
• Pastor Nick sa国际传媒� Evangel Church sa国际传媒� His 35 years of experience with addiction
• Helen sa国际传媒� Momsa国际传媒檚 Stop the Harm sa国际传媒� Sharing her story of the loss of her two sons to substance misuse
• Sheila Kerr sa国际传媒� Living Positive Resource Center sa国际传媒� Explanation of naloxone training process
• Nathanael Sherman sa国际传媒� musician sa国际传媒� closing song

12 p.m. - 1 p.m. - Training

• Free naloxone training provided by Sheila Kerr of Living Positive Resource Center

8 p.m. sa国际传媒� 10 p.m. Candle Light Vigil - The Sails Downtown Kelowna

• Remembrance and Honoring sa国际传媒� Music, Candlelight Vigil & Open Mic

To report a typo, email:
newstips@kelownacapnews.com.

newstips@kelownacapnews.com
Like us on and follow us on .