The latest data from the BC Coroner’s Service shows that the province could be on its way to one of the worst years ever for toxic drug deaths.
The deaths – lethal overdoses caused by street drugs that are mixed with powerful opioids like fentanyl and prescription drugs like benzodiazepines – accelerated rapidly from 2016. Just a few years before that, the first traces of fentanyl had begun turning up in street drugs.
Provincial governments have tried a number of initiatives to slow down the rate of deaths, but so far nothing, from widespread distribution of Narcan kits, to limited use of safe supply, to the recent decriminalization of small amounts of hard drugs, has stopped the death rate from staying at crisis levels.
Do you think there’s a solution in enforcement, treatment, or something else?