Thousands die every day as a result of a drug overdose.

Today is the day to talk about it and remember those affected.

It’s International Overdose Awareness Day.

Ensemble Greater Moncton Executive Director Debby Warren says addictions can happen to anyone, “I think of one young lady going to a university get injured in sports, you fall into that rabbit hole because the pain wasn’t controlled, and people that have own businesses, people whose families, their parents were professors. They’re from all walks of life.

Warren says many are still silent because of the stigmas surrounding substance use, “They’re embarrassed, there’s judgement,  so people don’t talk about the disorders in their families.

According to Statistics from the Government of Canada, there are an average of 20 opioid-related deaths per day.  It has been found that Canadians from all walks of life have been profoundly impacted by the effects of the toxic drug crisis that continues to claim lives at an alarming rate.

“We are losing a population between roughly the ages of 30 to 49. But sadly in the last surveillance report, we also saw 20-year-olds, which we hadn’t seen those numbers before. These are young adults that we’re losing. And I don’t know if people really are aware of it,” Warren adds.

She says many don’t really that addictions and overdoses can happen to anyone, “I remember meeting with one of our local doctors who said there had been research done to show that about 80 percent of Canadians have been affected by substance use,  and probably the other 20% just weren’t owning up to it.”

Warren adds according to a research project, that found New Brunswick had the second highest injection drug-using population per capita in the entire country, just behind British Columbia, “Every four days in New Brunswick someone dies as a result of substance abuse.”