On Monday the 21st of July, over 50 people gathered in Kennington Park, London to commemorate International Remembrance Day - a day to remember those who have died as a direct or indirect result of drug use and/or drug policies. Thanks to the dedicated staff of Black Poppy Magazine and GLADA Women’s Voices, this was the first time the event was recognised in the UK. The event was also supported by the Lambeth Service User Council and the International Harm Reduction Association, as well as numerous members of London's drug using community.The first Remembrance Day was organised in Germany in 1998 by a group of parents and relatives who had lost loved ones as a result of drugs. Since that time, Remembrance Day has developed from a series of small local meetings into the largest country-wide action day for people who use drugs. It also grew from a day of mourning into an opportunity for awareness building, activism and political lobbying – with demonstrations organised each year to highlight a key theme such as drug decriminalisation, substitution treatments or needle and syringe exchanges in prisons. This year, events were also held in countries including Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Australia and Canada.
The London event was organized as a way for members of the UK’s drug using community ‘to pay tribute to the memory of their peers, many of whose deaths remain statistics often with no recognition or celebration of their lives and no opportunity for their friends or loved ones in the drug using community to take part in their funerals.’ It was also an opportunity to highlight key advocacy issues, including stigma and discrimination against people who use drugs, and the need for Drug Consumption Rooms and peer-led overdose awareness and prevention programmes.
A number of speakers took part, including Rick Lines from International Harm Reduction Association who spoke on human rights abuses related to the 'war on drugs'. There was also live music, poetry and the reading of remembrances of persons lost. Twenty-one doves were released into the sky at the end of the event as a special visual tribute.
IHRA would like to thank Black Poppy and everyone else involved in organising such an important and successful event this year. We look forward to attending the event next year and for many years ahead.
Remembering the Fallen 21 July 2009
The names and incidents of the many casualties of the War on Drugs will never really be known.
International Remembrance Day (IRD)is dedicated to those people, known and unknown, who have died in the war against drugs and drug users. It is a time when the drug using community can remember and pay tribute to our friends and loved ones; for the funerals we couldn’t attend, for the deaths that no one acknowledged, for the moment we never got to say goodbye.
This year Birmingham joined the many city’s around the world to commemorate IRD .
Birmingham Drugs Forum and local treatment services across the City held commemorative events and activities to remember friends and colleagues who have passed away. . To mark the occasion Inclusion Community Drug Team and Addaction, two of Birmingham’s leading drug treatment services, teamed up and redesigned their reception area in memory of those who have lost their lives. A symbolic branch tree was placed in the reception area of the two services. Anyone who had lost someone they cared about were invited to write a message and hang it from the tree in their memory. Many other services lit candles & had books of remembrance in waiting rooms. SAFE a women’s service scattered black poppy seeds to the fallen & held OD workshops educating service users what to do when they see that someone has overdosed, by teaching people how to do the recovery position.
Teaching this straightforward procedure could save many peoples lives, and hopefully by training the users in our service they will go on to teach peers, so more people will know what they can do to help if a person over doses.
About 30 people from Birmingham’s service user and drug using community held a joint event at Turning Point Zepher.
A plaque in the shape of a bow with the words ‘Never Forgotten’ was unveiled to remember loved ones and those who have died or suffered as a direct result of drug policies & the international war on drugs. Also a ceramic dove was unveiled calling for drug peace and to celebrate and recognise the people who are tackling their drug use by engaging in the drug and alcohol treatment services across the city. A coordinated minutes silence was held at noon at all events & drug services around the city.
The event was great success, one that we can build on for future years.
