People First Radio – December 11, 2025People First Radio – December 11, 2025
People First Radio
Voices with lived experience, legal authority and mental health leadership share their views on B.C.’s toxic drug crisis, focusing on stigma, policy and harm reduction. The conversation questions criminalisation and involuntary care while highlighting housing, safer supply and connection as key supports.
0:00•13 Dec 2025
Toxic Drug Crisis, Stigma, and What Real Help Looks Like
Episode Overview
- Stigma and shame stop people from asking for help early, and can directly contribute to fatal overdoses.
- The toxic drug crisis is driven by an unregulated, fentanyl-contaminated supply, not simply by individual choices.
- Criminalisation and heavy investment in policing have failed to reduce harm, while health-based services remain underfunded and uneven in quality.
- Effective responses require a full continuum of support, including housing, counselling, peer support, safer pharmaceutical alternatives and accessible voluntary treatment.
- Expanding involuntary care without strong evidence, safeguards and robust voluntary options risks deepening mistrust and harming the very people policies claim to protect.
“Stigma is the main reason why people don't reach out for support when they're struggling.”
Curious about how others manage the toxic drug crisis on the front lines of policy, health care, and lived experience? This episode of People First Radio pulls together voices who’ve seen the crisis from every angle. You’ll hear a powerful video message from speaker and peer clinical adviser Guy Fellicella, who shares his history of childhood trauma, early drug use, years of homelessness and incarceration, and being revived from overdose six times.
His words land hard: “Stigma is the main reason why people don't reach out for support when they're struggling… The past doesn't define you. It's what you do today and forward that will.” From there, the focus shifts to a candid panel hosted by B.C. Human Rights Commissioner Kasari Govender with former B.C. Chief Coroner Lisa Lapointe and Canadian Mental Health Association B.C. CEO Johnny Morris.
Together, they break down how fentanyl poisoned the drug supply, why this is “a poisoning crisis” rather than a simple issue of drug use, and how housing, trauma and brain injury sit right at the heart of what’s happening. They challenge the long-standing “war on drugs” approach, with Lapointe calling criminalisation and punishment “spectacularly unsuccessful” and arguing that policing has soaked up funding while evidence-based treatment and safer supply remain scarce.
Morris adds bluntly, “stigma kills,” explaining how shame, fear and coercive policies push people away from help and into silence. The conversation also tackles involuntary care, questioning whether locking people in hospital without robust evidence, safeguards and voluntary services does more harm than good—especially for youth. Throughout, the tone stays clear, direct and human, with a sharp focus on what actually keeps people alive: connection, housing, safer pharmaceutical options, and accessible, respectful care.
If you’re looking for grounded perspectives on addiction, policy and human rights, this episode asks you to rethink what “help” really looks like—and who pays the price when stigma wins.
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