Muskoday Chief Ron Bear helped lead the walkers from the community. (Nigel Maxwell/paNOW Staff)

By Nigel Maxwell

Drug awareness

‘This is an epidemic across the country’: Overdose awareness walk headed to Regina

Jun 10, 2024 | 3:14 PM

Noting the number of personal friends and family members she knows who are addicted to drugs, Erica Hennie became emotional when she explained how their usage affects her, causing feelings of stress, anxiety and fear.

“You’re always thinking you are gonna lose somebody, and that’s the worst fear, thinking of people you love and that they might not come through,” she said.

And it was Erica’s desire to help her loved ones which inspired the idea for a special awareness walk to Regina. Despite rainy conditions, a group of determined members left the community on Monday and aim to arrive next Tuesday at the legislative building.

Hennie noted when the first annual was held last year, they had a lot of support and upon reaching Regina, met with the minister of health and discussed plans for detox beds and second stage housing.

“We’re planning on having them up to a year so that they can work on themselves, rather than be put back in the same place they came from,” she said.

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Despite some disappointment that more people did not come out for the walk this year, Hennie anticipates more people will join them along the way, and a special drum group will meet them in Regina for the final stretch.

(Nigel Maxwell/paNOW Staff)

Jadine McTaggart came out to support the walkers and acknowledged up until August of 2022, she was a fentanyl addict.

“I’ve lost countless friends and family and loved ones to addiction and I’d really like to see some of them start coming home,” she said.

Describing her own addictions struggle as being in the gates of hell and fighting to get out, McTaggart explained she would numb herself from the life she was living and the people she loved by visiting tent cities and trap houses to buy drugs. It was here she met people from various walks of life who all had horrible hardships.

“They were all like really kind people when it came down to it, but just lost in the addictions. It was really dark and scary and I feared it was going to end in homelessness, prison or death,” she said.

Fortunately McTaggart found a good path but admits it was not easy. Even after setting a course to change, she was in treatment for six months before she was able to kick it, and then was exposed to ongoing treatment for a year.

Emphasizing the importance of cultural supports as well as having access available to detox and transitional housing in the community, Hennie said people who are going through an addictions struggle are better served by people who understand what is happening to them.

“It’s not something you can really explain to someone who has not lived through it, without being looked at like you’re crazy,” she said.

(Nigel Maxwell/paNOW Staff)

Chief Ron Bear helped lead the walkers from the community. Noting the group has council’s full support, he expressed his hope that the federal and provincial levels of government pay attention and invest more resources for addictions supports.

“Muskoday is no different than any other community, we are suffering,” he said, noting last weekend alone there were four overdoses in the community and there’s also a high rate crystal meth use.

Citing as many as 40 known current cases, Chief Bear also noted getting people to access treatment is difficult.

“Sometimes they will accept help and sometimes they don’t. The ones that haven’t are well into their fourth year of addiction”, he explained, adding that while there issues in the past, the drug use in the community became more prevalent during the pandemic when people were being shut in.

Another frustration is with a lack of services, citing a lack of psychologists in the province as well as long wait lists for a detox bed.

“By the time there is a bed accessible to the recipient, they’ve changed their minds or they have spiralled back down,” Bear said.

The local volunteer fire department helps provide the walkers with a safe escort. (Nigel Maxwell/paNOW Staff)

Saskatoon Centre MLA Betty Nippi-Albright travelled to Muskoday to show her support for the walkers, and noted she herself had lost loved ones to drug overdoses.

“This is an epidemic across the country, and the traditional ways of dealing with addictions and mental health are not working,” she said.

Noting how the provincial government relies on on-reserve stats for federal health transfers, Nippi-Albright also said the onus is on all provincial governments and elected officials to work with First Nations communities. She added as well walks like the one from Muskoday to Regina help bring issue out into the open and reduces the stigma that gets attached to addictions.

“It’s not just an Indigenous issue, it is a society issue and we ned to get behind communities and we have to show up in communities to let the community know we care and are walking with you,” she said.

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nigel.maxwell@pattisonmdia.com

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