overdose crisis

A physician and addictions specialist says being equipped to administer naloxone is one way Canadians can play an active part in responding to the opioid epidemic. A Naloxone anti-overdose kit is held in downtown Vancouver, Friday, Feb. 10, 2017. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward

Naloxone: What to know about the overdose-reversing drug, free across Canada

Since 2016, Health Canada has recorded 38,514 opioid-related overdose deaths

 

The BC Coroners Service says more than 2,000 people have died in the first 10 months of 2023 due to the toxic drug supply. People carry a makeshift coffin , representing the toxic drug deaths, along Powell Street in Vancouver on April 14, 2023 during an event marking the seventh anniversary of the toxic drug supply in B.C. (Photo: Lauren Collins)

2,000 British Columbians have died from toxic drugs so far in 2023

October is also the 37th consecutive month with at least 150 deaths

 

Having a naloxone kit on hand is one way to reduce risk from drug poisoning and overdoses. (Black Press Media file photo)

Drug poisoning, overdose advisory issued for Greater Victoria

Similar alerts issued Wednesday for Nanaimo and Campbell River

 

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. Advocates for a safe drug supply gathered in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside to denounce the recent arrests of the founders of the Drug User Liberation Front. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

Marchers rally in Vancouver to support Drug User Liberation Front

Vancouver Police Department raided the group’s office and arrested its co-founders last week

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. Advocates for a safe drug supply gathered in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside to denounce the recent arrests of the founders of the Drug User Liberation Front. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
Medical health officer Dr. Reka Gustafson comments during a news conference in Vancouver, B.C., on Wednesday April 8, 2015. The British Columbia health expert says the province needs more overdose prevention sites and a renewed commitment to decriminalization to try to curb drug overdoses that kill six people a day. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

Pandemic isolation fed Vancouver Island’s toxic drug crisis: health officer

‘After 5 years of telling people not to use alone, we told a population not to be with each other’

Medical health officer Dr. Reka Gustafson comments during a news conference in Vancouver, B.C., on Wednesday April 8, 2015. The British Columbia health expert says the province needs more overdose prevention sites and a renewed commitment to decriminalization to try to curb drug overdoses that kill six people a day. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
B.C. Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry steps away from the podium after speaking during a news conference in Vancouver, on Monday, January 30, 2023. British Columbia is introducing a policy of decriminalization on Tuesday as part of what it says is an overall plan to prevent overdose deaths from illicit drugs. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

Patience, Bonnie Henry tells B.C. leaders, arrests won’t solve addiction

Drug decriminalization, toxic drugs on the minds of many B.C. municipal leaders

B.C. Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry steps away from the podium after speaking during a news conference in Vancouver, on Monday, January 30, 2023. British Columbia is introducing a policy of decriminalization on Tuesday as part of what it says is an overall plan to prevent overdose deaths from illicit drugs. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
People march along Powell Street in Vancouver on April 14, 2023 during an event to mark the seventh anniversary of the toxic drug crisis in B.C. The province said Aug. 23, 2023 that at least 198 people died in July due to toxic drug poisonings and there have been 1,455 deaths in the first seven months of the year. (Photo: Lauren Collins)

198 people died in B.C. in July due to toxic drug poisonings

The latest data comes just 2 days before International Overdose Awareness Day

People march along Powell Street in Vancouver on April 14, 2023 during an event to mark the seventh anniversary of the toxic drug crisis in B.C. The province said Aug. 23, 2023 that at least 198 people died in July due to toxic drug poisonings and there have been 1,455 deaths in the first seven months of the year. (Photo: Lauren Collins)
Chadd Cawson has organized walks in Winnipeg and Victoria, and is now doing one for International Overdose Awareness Day in Crofton Aug. 31. (Photo by Don Bodger)

Overdose awareness walk in Crofton about healing, bringing community together

Reporter directly impacted by the toxic drug crisis organizes Aug. 31 event at the Sea Walk

Chadd Cawson has organized walks in Winnipeg and Victoria, and is now doing one for International Overdose Awareness Day in Crofton Aug. 31. (Photo by Don Bodger)
A new survey says an alarming number of kids age 12 and older have been treated for drug overdoses in Canada. Paramedics debrief after responding to a drug overdose in Vancouver on Wednesday, June 23, 2021.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward

Kids overdosing is a public health emergency, Canadian pediatricians say

Overdoses leading cause of death of those between 10 and 18 years old in Western Canada

A new survey says an alarming number of kids age 12 and older have been treated for drug overdoses in Canada. Paramedics debrief after responding to a drug overdose in Vancouver on Wednesday, June 23, 2021.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward
A Naloxone anti-overdose kit is held in downtown Vancouver, Friday, Feb. 10, 2017. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward

‘Just can’t leave a person’: How to respond to potential overdoses on the street

Voss-Dahl, a licensed practical nurse in Edmonton, says she comes across people overdosing ‘all the time’

A Naloxone anti-overdose kit is held in downtown Vancouver, Friday, Feb. 10, 2017. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward
A protester holds a sign during a rally in Victoria, Thursday, April 14, 2022. The BC Coroners Service says 184 people died in B.C. in June due to the toxic, unregulated drug supply that has claimed more than 1,200 lives in the first six months of 2023. The coroners service says the numbers show just how risky it continues to be for users who access their drugs on the illicit market. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chad Hipolito

BC Coroners Service blames illicit drug supply for 184 deaths in June

90 per cent of all drugs tested in June showed the presence of fentanyl

A protester holds a sign during a rally in Victoria, Thursday, April 14, 2022. The BC Coroners Service says 184 people died in B.C. in June due to the toxic, unregulated drug supply that has claimed more than 1,200 lives in the first six months of 2023. The coroners service says the numbers show just how risky it continues to be for users who access their drugs on the illicit market. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chad Hipolito
Supplies are seen on a table at an outdoor supervised consumption site in the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver, on Thursday, May 27, 2021. A Vancouver family known for its philanthropy is making a $20 million donation to a British Columbia substance use treatment centre in memory of their adult son and brother who died of a opioid overdose. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

Vancouver family who lost son to overdose donates $20 million to recovery centre

Donation to the St. Paul’s Foundation will help fund the hospital’s Road to Recovery program

Supplies are seen on a table at an outdoor supervised consumption site in the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver, on Thursday, May 27, 2021. A Vancouver family known for its philanthropy is making a $20 million donation to a British Columbia substance use treatment centre in memory of their adult son and brother who died of a opioid overdose. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
Protesters march out of Oppenheimer Park along Powell Street in Vancouver on April 14, 2023 during an event marking the seventh anniversary of the toxic drug deaths in B.C. (Photo: Lauren Collins)

Toxic drug deaths response, care now top priority for First Nations Health Authority

When looking at abstinence as only option, it creates stigma, fear and shame: FNHA

Protesters march out of Oppenheimer Park along Powell Street in Vancouver on April 14, 2023 during an event marking the seventh anniversary of the toxic drug deaths in B.C. (Photo: Lauren Collins)
The First Nations Health Authority have released the 2022 data on toxic drug deaths for Indigenous people in B.C. Dr. Nel Wieman with the First Nations Health Authority speaks about the illicit drug toxicity deaths in the province and about the effect on First Nation’s communities during a press conference at B.C. Legislature in Victoria, B.C., on Monday, February 24, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chad Hipolito

First Nations ‘particularly and disproportionately’ overrepresented among B.C. toxic drug deaths

First Nations Health Authority releases 2022 data; detail plans for public health response

The First Nations Health Authority have released the 2022 data on toxic drug deaths for Indigenous people in B.C. Dr. Nel Wieman with the First Nations Health Authority speaks about the illicit drug toxicity deaths in the province and about the effect on First Nation’s communities during a press conference at B.C. Legislature in Victoria, B.C., on Monday, February 24, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chad Hipolito
FILE – Williams Lake resident were encouraged to paint on a purple rock in memory of a loved one lost to the toxic drug crisis. (Monica Lamb-Yorski photo - Williams Lake Tribune)

6 people died per day from unregulated drug supply so far this year: BC Coroners Service

‘Unregulated drug toxicity continues to be the leading cause of unnatural death in British Columbia’

FILE – Williams Lake resident were encouraged to paint on a purple rock in memory of a loved one lost to the toxic drug crisis. (Monica Lamb-Yorski photo - Williams Lake Tribune)
Safe supply advocates hold a rally outside the B.C. Ministry of Health in downtown Victoria April 14. The day marks seven years since the province declared the overdose public health emergency. (Austin Westphal/News Staff)

Safe supply advocates rally in Victoria to mark 7 years of toxic drug crisis

More than 11,300 British Columbians have died from toxic drug deaths since 2016

Safe supply advocates hold a rally outside the B.C. Ministry of Health in downtown Victoria April 14. The day marks seven years since the province declared the overdose public health emergency. (Austin Westphal/News Staff)
Paramedic Specialists Brian Twaites and David Hilder of B.C. Ambulance debrief after responding to a drug overdose in downtown Vancouver, Wednesday, June 23, 2021. Twaites says he has watched as the province’s illicit drugs have become more toxic, requiring more effort and more overdose-reversal medication to save people’s lives. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward

Former B.C. paramedic gives advice on the 7th anniversary of the toxic drug crisis

Last year, the toxic drug supply claimed nearly 2,300 lives in the province

Paramedic Specialists Brian Twaites and David Hilder of B.C. Ambulance debrief after responding to a drug overdose in downtown Vancouver, Wednesday, June 23, 2021. Twaites says he has watched as the province’s illicit drugs have become more toxic, requiring more effort and more overdose-reversal medication to save people’s lives. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward
A naloxone anti-overdose kit is held in downtown Vancouver, B.C., Friday, Feb. 10, 2017. British Columbia Emergency Health Services has released grim statistics on the toxic drug crisis ahead of the seventh anniversary of the province declaring a public health emergency. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward

‘The perfect storm’: more poisoning calls than ever as overdose crisis turns 7

B.C. marks 7th anniversary of overdose emergency with grim record statistics

A naloxone anti-overdose kit is held in downtown Vancouver, B.C., Friday, Feb. 10, 2017. British Columbia Emergency Health Services has released grim statistics on the toxic drug crisis ahead of the seventh anniversary of the province declaring a public health emergency. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward
Island Health demonstrated the technology at the Comox Valley Nursing Centre in Courtenay March 15 as part of a trial in a group of washrooms identified high-risk spaces for drug poisonings. Photo by Erin Haluschak

Island Health washroom sensor trial underway in Courtenay to monitor drug poisoning

The sensors monitor movement and how long a person has occupied the washroom

Island Health demonstrated the technology at the Comox Valley Nursing Centre in Courtenay March 15 as part of a trial in a group of washrooms identified high-risk spaces for drug poisonings. Photo by Erin Haluschak
People gather at Centennial Square marking the sixth anniversary of B.C. declaring overdose deaths a public health emergency in Victoria, Thursday, April 14, 2022. A First Nation on the northwest coast of Vancouver Island has declared a state of emergency over what its leadership describes as the “unrelating impact of drugs and alcohol” on its members, particularly children and youth.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chad Hipolito

Island First Nation declares emergency over drug and alcohol crisis

The Ehattesaht First Nation in Zeballos says six young people have died

People gather at Centennial Square marking the sixth anniversary of B.C. declaring overdose deaths a public health emergency in Victoria, Thursday, April 14, 2022. A First Nation on the northwest coast of Vancouver Island has declared a state of emergency over what its leadership describes as the “unrelating impact of drugs and alcohol” on its members, particularly children and youth.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chad Hipolito