overdose crisis

B.C. Minister of Mental Health and Addictions Sheila Malcolmson speaks during a news conference, in Vancouver, on Tuesday, May 31, 2022. More grim statistics from the BC Coroners Service show the rate of toxic drug deaths has doubled since the province declared a public health emergency in 2016. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

More comprehensive services required to curb B.C. drug deaths, doctor says

‘I hope we see behind those statistics that it’s really human beings who are dying’

 

Local governments are asking Victoria to give them a share of a recent settlement with a drug company. (Black Press file photo)

B.C. communities want a slice of $150 million Purdue Pharma Canada settlement

UBCM delegates say drug crisis is chewing up more local resources than they have

 

University student Chloe Goodison, shown in this handout image, founded a group that provides overdose prevention education to high school students in Coquitlam, B.C., but is expanding the program this fall with hopes that the province will make awareness about overdose from illicit street drugs a mandatory part of the curriculum instead of leaving that decision to individual school districts. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO

Make overdose education mandatory in B.C. schools amid drug emergency, advocates say

More than 10,000 deaths since B.C. declared toxic drug supply a public health emergency in 2016

 

Photos of loved ones outside the Ministry of Health office during an International Overdose Awareness Day event in Victoria. (Jake Romphf/News Staff)

Pleas for safe drug supply mark International Overdose Awareness Day in B.C. capital

10,000 people have died of toxic drug poisoning in B.C. since 2016

Photos of loved ones outside the Ministry of Health office during an International Overdose Awareness Day event in Victoria. (Jake Romphf/News Staff)
Carolyn Bennett rises during Question Period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Friday, June 10, 2022. Canada’s minister of mental health and addictions says more doctors across the country should be willing to prescribe a safer supply of drugs instead of fearing they will be investigated by their regulatory colleges.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang

More doctors across Canada should prescribe safer drugs to reduce overdoses: minister

Physicians who prescribe pharmaceutical-grade alternatives could better support patients: college

Carolyn Bennett rises during Question Period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Friday, June 10, 2022. Canada’s minister of mental health and addictions says more doctors across the country should be willing to prescribe a safer supply of drugs instead of fearing they will be investigated by their regulatory colleges.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang
Dean Anderson holds up a sign before a march on the first National Day of Action to draw attention to the opioid overdose epidemic, in the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver, B.C. in 2017. Currently, B.C.’s Select Standing Committee on Health is seeking public input on the crisis. Deadline to submit is Friday, Aug. 5 at 3 p.m. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

Public input sought as committee examines B.C.’s toxic drug crisis

10-member committee includes NDP, Liberal and Green MLAs

Dean Anderson holds up a sign before a march on the first National Day of Action to draw attention to the opioid overdose epidemic, in the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver, B.C. in 2017. Currently, B.C.’s Select Standing Committee on Health is seeking public input on the crisis. Deadline to submit is Friday, Aug. 5 at 3 p.m. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
Kathleen Radu, Moms Stop the Harm member, with her late son Morgan Goodridge, who died from carfentanyl poisoning in 2020. (Courtesy of Kathleen Radu)

‘A pit in our stomach’: B.C. moms say threshold of decriminalized drug possession too little

Moms Stop the Harm said all personal use possession needs to be decriminalized

Kathleen Radu, Moms Stop the Harm member, with her late son Morgan Goodridge, who died from carfentanyl poisoning in 2020. (Courtesy of Kathleen Radu)
Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users president Lorna Bird says her dog Joy can tell when someone is overdosing. (Jane Skrypnek/News Staff)

Overdose detecting dogs save lives, lift spirits in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside

When someone overdoses at VANDU, pups Guess and Joy are quick to alert the nearest human

Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users president Lorna Bird says her dog Joy can tell when someone is overdosing. (Jane Skrypnek/News Staff)
Moms Stop the Harm advocates and supporters gather at Centennial Square on the sixth anniversary to mark the public health emergency of the declaration due to the significant increase in opioid-related overdose across the province during the Cut The Red Tape theme in Victoria, Thursday, April 14, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chad Hipolito

Pandemic impacted quality of illicit drugs and ‘contaminants’ in B.C., new study shows

A new study surveyed 738 people who use drugs and found 272 people reported worsening drug quality

Moms Stop the Harm advocates and supporters gather at Centennial Square on the sixth anniversary to mark the public health emergency of the declaration due to the significant increase in opioid-related overdose across the province during the Cut The Red Tape theme in Victoria, Thursday, April 14, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chad Hipolito
Minister of Mental Health and Addictions Sheila Malcolmson speaks during a press conference in the press gallery at the Legislature in Victoria, Monday, Nov. 1, 2021. In the absence of a national policy on personal drug possession, some Canadian jurisdictions have submitted requests for exemptions from criminal penalties for those who carry small amounts of illicit drugs for personal use. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chad Hipolito

Jurisdictions looking to decriminalize small amounts of drugs to curb overdose deaths

Canadian cities, provinces say decriminalization would help reduce stigma associated with drug use

Minister of Mental Health and Addictions Sheila Malcolmson speaks during a press conference in the press gallery at the Legislature in Victoria, Monday, Nov. 1, 2021. In the absence of a national policy on personal drug possession, some Canadian jurisdictions have submitted requests for exemptions from criminal penalties for those who carry small amounts of illicit drugs for personal use. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chad Hipolito
People hold banners during a march to remember those who died during the overdose crisis and to call for a safe supply of illicit drugs on International Overdose Awareness Day, in Vancouver, on Tuesday, August 31, 2021. British Columbia’s chief coroner says at least 1,011 people died from suspected illicit drug overdoses from January to June, the highest death toll recorded in the first six months of a calendar year during the province’s overdose crisis. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

Safe-supply pilot project findings promising, but advocates say more action is needed

The programs are small and have very limited capacity to prescribe a safe supply of drugs

People hold banners during a march to remember those who died during the overdose crisis and to call for a safe supply of illicit drugs on International Overdose Awareness Day, in Vancouver, on Tuesday, August 31, 2021. British Columbia’s chief coroner says at least 1,011 people died from suspected illicit drug overdoses from January to June, the highest death toll recorded in the first six months of a calendar year during the province’s overdose crisis. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
A handheld device showing the loading screen for the Alberta Digital Overdose Response System mobile application is shown alongside a pair of Narcan nasal injectors in a photo illustration in Toronto, Monday, Dec. 6, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Giordano Ciampini

‘Maddening, heartbreaking’: Alberta records deadliest year for drug overdoses in 2021

Most fatal overdoses are linked to opioids and took place in Calgary and Edmonton

A handheld device showing the loading screen for the Alberta Digital Overdose Response System mobile application is shown alongside a pair of Narcan nasal injectors in a photo illustration in Toronto, Monday, Dec. 6, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Giordano Ciampini
Ray Corbiere holds a picture of his son Joshua Corbiere in Edmonton on Wednesday, March 16, 2022. A father’s hope turned to pain in less than 24 hours after his son entered a residential drug treatment facility and fatally overdosed. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jason Franson

‘Death trap’: Front-line workers warn of drug overdoses rising on and off the streets

Drug overdose deaths in Alberta hit record highs during the COVID-19 pandemic

Ray Corbiere holds a picture of his son Joshua Corbiere in Edmonton on Wednesday, March 16, 2022. A father’s hope turned to pain in less than 24 hours after his son entered a residential drug treatment facility and fatally overdosed. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jason Franson
Minister of Mental Health and Addictions and Associate Minister of Health Carolyn Bennett at a news conference after the federal cabinet was sworn in, in Ottawa, on Tuesday, Oct. 26, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang

Scrap thresholds in requests to decriminalize simple drug possession: coalition

To date, British Columbia, Toronto and Vancouver have asked Ottawa for section 56 exemption request

Minister of Mental Health and Addictions and Associate Minister of Health Carolyn Bennett at a news conference after the federal cabinet was sworn in, in Ottawa, on Tuesday, Oct. 26, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang
People hold banners during a march to remember those who died during the overdose crisis and to call for a safe supply of illicit drugs on International Overdose Awareness Day, in Vancouver, on Tuesday, August 31, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

6 people died per day from B.C.’s toxic drug supply last year

B.C. recorded 2,224 fatalities due to illicit drug overdoses in 2021

People hold banners during a march to remember those who died during the overdose crisis and to call for a safe supply of illicit drugs on International Overdose Awareness Day, in Vancouver, on Tuesday, August 31, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
Tools of the trade: Crushed painkiller pills with open bottle, aluminum foil, spoon, lighter and syringe. ADOBE STOCK IMAGE

SCARED STRAIGHT: Overdose episode turns B.C. man’s life around

‘Usually, you just go to sleep… wake up later and you’re fine. But this night I wasn’t.’

Tools of the trade: Crushed painkiller pills with open bottle, aluminum foil, spoon, lighter and syringe. ADOBE STOCK IMAGE
Oona Krieg, chief operating officer of Brave Technology Co-op, poses for a photograph in Vancouver on Thursday, Jan. 6, 2022. Almost three dozen people survived overdoses because of a Canada-wide phone line that connects callers who use drugs with emergency support if there is a suspected overdose. Looking back on a year in service, data from the National Overdose Response Service, or NORS, shows all 33 potentially life-threatening events were successfully responded to. Followup calls confirmed all overdoses were reversed. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

Connection during isolation: Data shows national drug overdose hotline saves lives

The national line is one of many solutions to try to curb drug overdoses

Oona Krieg, chief operating officer of Brave Technology Co-op, poses for a photograph in Vancouver on Thursday, Jan. 6, 2022. Almost three dozen people survived overdoses because of a Canada-wide phone line that connects callers who use drugs with emergency support if there is a suspected overdose. Looking back on a year in service, data from the National Overdose Response Service, or NORS, shows all 33 potentially life-threatening events were successfully responded to. Followup calls confirmed all overdoses were reversed. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
A woman walks past a person using a glass pipe to smoke drugs in the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver, on International Overdose Awareness Day on Tuesday, August 31, 2021. Researchers in British Columbia say the expansion of overdose prevention sites in Vancouver led to immediate behaviour changes among some drug users as they entered addiction treatment, decreased the number of times they injected substances in public and shared syringes. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

UBC study says more overdose prevention sites could mean fewer overdose deaths

Researchers says existing sites having positive influence on drug users’ behaviour

A woman walks past a person using a glass pipe to smoke drugs in the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver, on International Overdose Awareness Day on Tuesday, August 31, 2021. Researchers in British Columbia say the expansion of overdose prevention sites in Vancouver led to immediate behaviour changes among some drug users as they entered addiction treatment, decreased the number of times they injected substances in public and shared syringes. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
The Yukon provincial flag flies on a flag pole in Ottawa, Monday July 6, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

Yukon’s illicit overdose death toll now highest in Canada: coroner

Opioid fatalities now represent over 20 per cent of all deaths investigated by Yukon’s coroner

The Yukon provincial flag flies on a flag pole in Ottawa, Monday July 6, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld
Interior Health issued warning April 18, 2021 of crack cocaine in Penticton that looks similar to the substance above containing fentanyl. (Interior Health photo)

Interior Health warns of fentanyl contaminated crack-cocaine in Penticton

There have been recent reports of overdose associated with the use of this substance

Interior Health issued warning April 18, 2021 of crack cocaine in Penticton that looks similar to the substance above containing fentanyl. (Interior Health photo)