Seven years have passed since B.C. declared the overdose crisis a public health emergency, yet little has been done to reduce the number of lives taken by an increasingly toxic drug supply, say advocates.
Safe supply advocates and families impacted by substance use held a rally outside the Ministry of Health in downtown Victoria Friday (April 14) to mark the seventh anniversary of the public health emergency, and call for policy changes.
Jessica Michalofsky, a Camosun College instructor, said the most devastating thing that can happen to a parent is losing their child. She lost her 25-year-old son Aubrey, who had just finished his law and justice degree at Selkirk College in Castlegar, to toxic drug poisoning last year.
香蕉视频直播淚t is this government香蕉视频直播檚 policy to provide safe supply 香蕉视频直播� back in July 2021 they announced that they were going to be unrolling supply of safer drugs for people,香蕉视频直播� she told the Victoria News at the rally. 香蕉视频直播淏ut as of right now, there香蕉视频直播檚 only a few pilot projects in a few locations that actually offer that safe supply. So we need a massive expansion of that if we香蕉视频直播檙e going to undercut the black market and actually save lives.香蕉视频直播�
Michalofsky香蕉视频直播檚 son is just one of over 11,300 British Columbians and 1,800 Islanders who have died as a result of the crisis since April 2016. More than 800 have died over the same period in Greater Victoria alone.
Based on figures from the BC Coroners Service, illicit drug toxicity deaths have increased by 109 per cent in Greater Victoria from 2016 to 2022, while deaths have surged by 130 per cent provincewide.
香蕉视频直播淲hen we talk about treatment, we also need to realize that substance-use disorder for many people is a lifelong disease and people need comprehensive treatment 香蕉视频直播� not just 30 days before coughing them out onto the street, where as soon as they have a moment of weakness, they reach out to the illicit supply and die,香蕉视频直播� said Michalofsky.
Registered nurse Sarah Lovegrove said she has seen a massive influx of people suffering from fatal overdoses over the last several years at Nanaimo Regional General Hospital, where she works as a clinical instructor for Vancouver Island University. She said the sharp rise in overdoses from opioids mixed with fentanyl, xylazine and benzodiazepines, compounded with COVID and staffing shortages, has left hospital staff struggling to provide the care that many need.
While Lovegrove wants to see the safe supply programs expanded across the province, she admitted safe supply alone is simply not enough.
香蕉视频直播淗ousing is a health-care issue. When someone doesn香蕉视频直播檛 have a home, they can香蕉视频直播檛 get better, so it香蕉视频直播檚 absolutely imperative that we get everyone housed,香蕉视频直播� she said.
香蕉视频直播淭he province needs the political balls to do the right thing,香蕉视频直播� Moms Stop the Harm member Jennifer Howard put it bluntly. 香蕉视频直播淭hey must provide an urgent response to this crisis, in the same way we saw with COVID. The contrast between these two public health emergencies is appalling.香蕉视频直播�
In a joint statement, Premier David Eby, Mental Health and Addictions Minister Jennifer Whiteside, and provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said the province will continue scaling up detox and recovery services across the full spectrum of care.
香蕉视频直播淭oday, we deepen our resolve to save lives and improve lives, even as the COVID-19 pandemic香蕉视频直播檚 impacts have made the drug supply even more toxic for people in our province.香蕉视频直播�
In 2023 so far, 211 British Columbians have died as the result of a toxic drug poisoning.
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