opioid crisis

FILE – An organizer displays a naloxone kit that people can pick up for free as International Overdose Awareness Day training seminar takes place at Centennial Square in Victoria, B.C., on Saturday August 31, 2019. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chad Hipolito

153 people died of drug overdoses in November in B.C.; deaths climb in seniors

Deaths in older age groups have nearly doubled from 2019

 

A fentanyl test strip is used at Vancouver Coastal Health in Vancouver, Tuesday, January, 21, 2020. The test strips will be made available to drug users to ensure that their drugs are safe and free of Fentanyl. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward

Drug overdoses lead to 5 deaths each day in October; B.C. drug toxicity continues to increase

COVID-19 crisis continues to exacerbate the overdose crisis

 

Prescription pills containing oxycodone and acetaminophen are pictured in this June 20, 2012 photo. Pandemic exacerbates opioid crisis, as overdoses rise and services fade. The COVID-19 crisis has overshadowed an equally dark pandemic of opioid overdoses, which have risen sharply since March as the border closure and limited access to services raise fatal risks for drug users. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graeme Roy

Pandemic aggravates opioid crisis as overdoses rise and services fall out of reach

British Columbia saw more than 100 ‘illicit toxicity deaths’ each month between March and August

 

Dr. Richard Stanwick, Island Health chief medical officer, speaks from the Victoria police headquarters on Nov. 5. (Nina Grossman/News Staff)

Victoria police seize fentanyl potent enough to kill more than half of Vancouver Island

Extreme concentrations a troublesome development in the ongoing opioid crisis: health officer

Dr. Richard Stanwick, Island Health chief medical officer, speaks from the Victoria police headquarters on Nov. 5. (Nina Grossman/News Staff)
A truck drives past a sign supporting a ballot measure that would legalize controlled, therapeutic use of psilocybin mushrooms, Friday, Oct. 9, 2020 in Salem, Ore. War veterans with PTSD, terminally ill patients and others suffering from anxiety are backing the ballot measure. (AP Photo/Andrew Selsky)

Oregon could become 1st US state to decriminalize hard drugs

Users would have the option of paying $100 fines or attending new, free addiction recovery centres

A truck drives past a sign supporting a ballot measure that would legalize controlled, therapeutic use of psilocybin mushrooms, Friday, Oct. 9, 2020 in Salem, Ore. War veterans with PTSD, terminally ill patients and others suffering from anxiety are backing the ballot measure. (AP Photo/Andrew Selsky)
FILE - This Tuesday, May 8, 2007, file photo shows the Purdue Pharma logo at its offices in Stamford, Conn. Arizona’s attorney general is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to force the Sackler family, which owns OxyContin-maker Purdue Pharma, to return billions of dollars they took out of the company. The court filing on Wednesday, July 31, 2019, marks the first time the high court has been asked to weigh in directly on the nation’s opioid crisis. (AP Photo/Douglas Healey, File)

Purdue Pharma pleas could bolster efforts for Canadian opioid class action

In Canada, provincial officials have pushed for victims here to be similarly compensated by Purdue

FILE - This Tuesday, May 8, 2007, file photo shows the Purdue Pharma logo at its offices in Stamford, Conn. Arizona’s attorney general is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to force the Sackler family, which owns OxyContin-maker Purdue Pharma, to return billions of dollars they took out of the company. The court filing on Wednesday, July 31, 2019, marks the first time the high court has been asked to weigh in directly on the nation’s opioid crisis. (AP Photo/Douglas Healey, File)
This Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2020 photo shows Purdue Pharma headquarters in Stamford, Conn. The Justice Department says on Wednesday, Purdue Pharma, the company that makes OxyContin, will plead guilty to three federal criminal charges as part of a settlement of more than $8 billion. OxyContin is the powerful prescription painkiller that experts say helped touch off an opioid epidemic. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)

OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma to plead to 3 criminal charges in U.S.

Settlement is highest-profile display yet of the feds seeking to hold a major drugmaker responsible for the opioid crisis

This Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2020 photo shows Purdue Pharma headquarters in Stamford, Conn. The Justice Department says on Wednesday, Purdue Pharma, the company that makes OxyContin, will plead guilty to three federal criminal charges as part of a settlement of more than $8 billion. OxyContin is the powerful prescription painkiller that experts say helped touch off an opioid epidemic. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)
A injection kit is seen inside the newly opened Fraser Health supervised consumption site is pictured in Surrey, B.C., Tuesday, June 6, 2017. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward

B.C. records 127 fatal overdoses in September, roughly 4 each day

Vancouver, Surrey and Victoria continued to see the highest numbers of overdoses

A injection kit is seen inside the newly opened Fraser Health supervised consumption site is pictured in Surrey, B.C., Tuesday, June 6, 2017. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward
Donna Bridgman, wearing a shirt with son Leif’s photo, outside St. Barnabas Church in New Westminster. Leif’s ashes are in a burial niche at the church. Photo by Christopher Cheung.

She warned her son about toxic drugs, then he was dead

Donna Bridgman’s son died at the age of 38 in Vancouver

Donna Bridgman, wearing a shirt with son Leif’s photo, outside St. Barnabas Church in New Westminster. Leif’s ashes are in a burial niche at the church. Photo by Christopher Cheung.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks to reporters during a news conference following a visit to the National Research Council of Canada (NRC) Royalmount Human Health Therapeutics Research Centre facility in Montreal, Monday, Aug 31, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes

Trudeau makes rounds in B.C.; says safe drug supply key to fighting overdoses

Top doctors have called for increased access to a safe supply of illicit drugs to prevent deaths

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks to reporters during a news conference following a visit to the National Research Council of Canada (NRC) Royalmount Human Health Therapeutics Research Centre facility in Montreal, Monday, Aug 31, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes
A man injects drugs in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, Wednesday, Feb. 6, 2019. Canada needs a new approach to tackle its overdose crisis, says the lead author of a new study that highlights a prevalence of overdoses involving non-prescribed fentanyl and stimulants in British Columbia. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward

New study calls for new approach to tackling overdose crisis

There have been more than 15,000 apparent opioid-related deaths in Canada since 2016

A man injects drugs in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, Wednesday, Feb. 6, 2019. Canada needs a new approach to tackle its overdose crisis, says the lead author of a new study that highlights a prevalence of overdoses involving non-prescribed fentanyl and stimulants in British Columbia. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward
Chief Public Health Officer of Canada Dr. Theresa Tam speaks during a news conference on the COVID-19 pandemic on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, on Friday, Aug. 21, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang

Talks needed on decriminalizing hard drugs to address opioid crisis, Tam says

Recent data shows a major spike in the number of people dying from toxic illicit drugs due to the pandemic

Chief Public Health Officer of Canada Dr. Theresa Tam speaks during a news conference on the COVID-19 pandemic on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, on Friday, Aug. 21, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang
Flora Cannabis is located at 201 – 3710 Hoskins Road in West Kelowna, B.C. (Contributed)

Cannabis could be a useful form of harm reduction for addicted youth, B.C. study reveals

Findings come as B.C. is seeing its worst stretch in history for fatal overdoses

Flora Cannabis is located at 201 – 3710 Hoskins Road in West Kelowna, B.C. (Contributed)
Premier John Horgan (The Canadian Press)

B.C. premier asks Trudeau to decriminalize illicit drug possession as deaths climb

A record 175 people died in June of illicit-drug overdoses

Premier John Horgan (The Canadian Press)
Fentanyl (The Canadian Press)

Canadian policing organization calls for decriminalization of simple illicit drug possession

Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police want policing focus of opioid crisis to be replaced with a health one

Fentanyl (The Canadian Press)

Northern Health issues alert over rise in illicit Benzodiazepines contaminating street drugs

Healthcare provider has previously said COVID-19 could have impacted drug supply

THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward Drug overdose deaths have jumped dramatically during the COVID-19 pandemic. Northwest B.C. had three deaths attributed to drug overdoses.

Illicit overdose deaths on the rise during COVID-19: Northern Health

March 2020 saw a 61 per cent increase in illicit overdose deaths province-wide compared to February

THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward Drug overdose deaths have jumped dramatically during the COVID-19 pandemic. Northwest B.C. had three deaths attributed to drug overdoses.
Northwest sees 0 fentanyl-detected deaths in January but Northern Health numbers static

Northwest sees 0 fentanyl-detected deaths in January but Northern Health numbers static

Northern Health saw six fentanyl-detected deaths in January, the same as in 2019

Northwest sees 0 fentanyl-detected deaths in January but Northern Health numbers static
B.C. has recorded an uptick in overdose deaths in March 2020. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward)

B.C. sees 60% more overdose deaths in March compared to first two months of 2020

That equates to roughly seven British Columbians dying every two days

B.C. has recorded an uptick in overdose deaths in March 2020. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward)
B.C. Mental Health and Addictions Minister Judy Darcy speaks to reporters at the B.C. legislature, Feb. 24, 2020. (Tom Fletcher/Black Press)

COLUMN: Helping those who use substances during the COVID-19 pandemic

B.C. Minister of Mental Health and Addictions Judy Darcy talks about both public health emergencies

  • Apr 18, 2020
B.C. Mental Health and Addictions Minister Judy Darcy speaks to reporters at the B.C. legislature, Feb. 24, 2020. (Tom Fletcher/Black Press)