Three-hundred and eighteen people.
Daughters, sons, children, mothers, fathers, parents, brothers, sisters, siblings, partners, husbands, wives and friends.
Each lost to the devastating impacts of drugs.
Friends and family gathered at Weston Park on Monday to remember those who have died from illicit drugs.
Every year they gather here to commemorate their loved ones and every year, sadly, the list of those who have died gets longer. There were 318 names read out at the ceremony.
But there was a sense of hope at this year's ceremony. Hope the upcoming drug decriminalisation laws could help to change things.
The gathering is held by the Families and Friends for Drug Law Reform, a group which advocates for drug addiction to be treated as a health issue, not a criminal one.
The group's president, Bill Bush, told the gathered crowd they were brave and by coming to the event they were making a political statement.
"You are brave people for walking out into the light, into this beautiful sunlight and into this beautiful place because you love and respect someone and that is not an easy thing to do when the rest of society has labelled them as worthless," he said.
It was the 28th time the event has been held. It is held at a memorial dedicated to those who have lost their lives to drugs, which was unveiled by former chief minister Kate Carnell in 1996. People lay flowers at the memorial as part of the ceremony.
It is always held in October and this year it happened to coincide with the week drug decriminalisation laws are set to take effect in the ACT.
Those caught with small amounts of illicit drugs will have to either take part in a drug diversionary program or be given a $100 fine. The current penalty for possession is a $8000 fine or two years in jail.
Advocates of the policy hope it will reduce stigma around drug use and prompt more people to seek help.
Canberra Alliance for Harm Minimisation and Advocacy executive director Chris Gough, who spoke at the ceremony, said any step to reduce the harms of drugs and its stigma was really important. He is hopeful fewer names will be added to the list over the coming years.
"We know that of those people who died from overdose, over half do so alone and they die alone and part of that story is around stigma and hiding their drug use from people," he said.
"When you have stigma, information and education becomes hard and everything has this added layer of complexity."
Mr Gough said the stigma and discrimination surrounding those who die from drugs makes it very difficult to grieve and the remembrance ceremony gave people a chance to come together and remember their loved ones.
"Death is a very traumatic and horrible time for people just normally but when you overlay stigma and discrimination on top of it, often families feel a whole bunch of conflicting emotions," he said.
"This event is just so important because it brings people together from all walks of life who've shared this tragic loss around drug use."
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Support is available for those who may be distressed. Phone Lifeline 13 11 14; National Alcohol and Other Drug Hotline 1800 250 015
