The announcement comes the same day the BC Coroners Service released its monthly overdose death report, which found at least 171 people died from toxic drugs in BC in September. That means at least 1,644 people have died so far this year – putting the province on track to surpass 2,000 annual deaths for the second year in a row. “British Columbians continue to suffer the tragic consequences of a toxic and unstable drug supply, with nearly six members of our communities dying every day,” Chief Medical Examiner Lisa Lapointe wrote in a statement. Flags representing lives lost to drug overdoses are pictured during a Moms Stop The Harm memorial in Vancouver in April 2022, marking six years since a public health emergency was declared over the supply of poisoned drugs in BC ( (Ben Nelms/CBC) The statistics also mean BC has lost at least 150 people to toxic drugs every month for two years running. An estimated 10,505 people have died due to drug poisoning since BC. first declared a public health emergency for toxic drugs in April 2016.
The minister links chronic pain to toxic drug overdoses
On Monday, the federal government announced it would allocate $5 million in chronic pain resources in what Carolyn Bennett, the mental health and addictions minister, says is part of an effort to stop people with untreated pain from seeking relief through toxic street drugs. It says up to $4.5 million over five years will go toward expanding the Pain Canada network, strengthening national collaboration, scaling up best practices and expanding resources for those living with chronic pain. Another $520,000 will support a project to improve access to services for LGBTQ residents in BC, as well as those in the Chinese, Punjabi and Arabic-speaking communities living with chronic pain. Bennett says the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated challenges for those living with pain, including access to adequate health services and support. Minister of Mental Health and Addictions Carolyn Bennett at a press conference in Ottawa on September 22. It says up to $4.5 million over five years will go toward expanding the Pain Canada network, strengthening national collaboration, scaling up best practices and expanding resources for those living with chronic pain. (Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press) Bennett says the data shows that many of those who died in B.C. sought treatment for their pain in the previous year. “We’ve all heard of people going off their meds and then going on the street for their drugs. We don’t think people should live with pain,” says Bennett. “This will help increase pain management options and awareness of best practices from coast to coast to coast.”
Report of all parties
Lapointe said she was “encouraged” by a report from an all-party health commission in B.C. released last Tuesday that said the province and health authorities must do more to stop or slow the average of six people who die in the day. The Select Standing Committee on Health issued 37 recommendations to create a range of options for people who use drugs, from increasing harm reduction efforts such as naloxone kits and overdose prevention sites to rapidly scaling up safer prescription supplies for separating people from the supply of poisoned illegal drugs. The provincial government received the report, but did not commit to accepting all of the recommendations and has already passed many of the deadlines outlined. Men continue to account for the vast majority of people who die from drug poisoning in B.C., at 80 percent, according to a coroner’s report Monday. More than 70 percent of the people who died were between the ages of 30 and 59. No deaths have been reported in supervised consumption or drug overdose prevention sites. “There is no evidence that prescription safe supply contributes to illicit drug deaths,” the coroner added.
