International Drug Users Remembrance Day
International Drug Users Remembrance Day is a health awareness day observed on 21 July each year. It is a day where friends and family can meet together to memorialise and remember loved ones whose lives were cut short due to drug use and the criminalisation and stigmatisation of people who use drugs.[1]
It is also a day to remember everyone who has worked to advance the health and human rights of people who use drugs, many of whom have provided services borne out of civil disobedience such as needle and syringe programs and medically supervised injecting center's which have saved many lives.[2][3]
When talking about what it meant to him, as a young drug user, Matthew Bonn said:[4]
My grief is personal, and colored by the knowledge that it could easily have been me. At the same time, it’s experienced by millions of others in their own ways.
— Matthew Bonn, What International Drug Users Remembrance Day Means to Me, 21 July 2021
Bonn also talks about specific friends that he had lost to drug use and tells some of their stories.[4]
It is similar to International Overdose Awareness Day (31 August)[5] and International Drug Users Day (1 November).[6][7]
References
[edit]- ^ "International Drug Users Remembrance Day 2021". International Drug Users Remembrance Day. 11 May 2022. Retrieved 24 July 2024.
- ^ AIVL (20 July 2022). "International Drug Users Remembrance Day – 2022 - Australian Injecting and Illicit Drug Users League (AIVL)". Retrieved 24 July 2024.
- ^ "Memorial: International drug users day of remembrance". City of Sydney - What’s On. Retrieved 24 July 2024.
- ^ a b Bonn, Matthew (21 July 2021). "What International Drug Users Remembrance Day Means to Me". Filter. Retrieved 24 July 2024.
- ^ "International Overdose Awareness Day". Bing. Retrieved 24 July 2024.
- ^ "International Drug Users Day | Scarlet Alliance". scarletalliance.org.au. Retrieved 24 July 2024.
- ^ AIVL (1 November 2022). "International Drug Users Day 2022 - Australian Injecting and Illicit Drug Users League (AIVL)". Retrieved 24 July 2024.