‘In a way, stigma is the leading cause of death’: the radical plan to tackle British Columbia’s overdose epidemic

Traci Letts shops for the right pair of shoes in which to cremate her son, who died of an overdose aged 31. Photograph: Jackie Dives

When Traci Letts finally found the perfect shoes for her son Mike – a pair of white Nike trainers with a splash of green – the store didn’t have the right size. So she went to another.

“They had to be just right,” she said. “He always wanted to dress well.” The high-top shoes completed an outfit Letts had carefully selected: a grey tracksuit with a white T-shirt; they would be the final set of clothes he would wear. “I knew he’d want to be sent off that way.”