The month of November brought the highest number of illicit drug deaths in B.C. for a single month in recent memory, according to the latest statistics from the BC Coroners Service.
Provisional data shows that a total of 128 persons died as a result of illicit drug use during November, an average of more than four a day.
The previous high for a single month was 82 in January, 2016.
The November numbers bring the total illicit drug deaths for the year to 755, an increase of 70.4 per cent over the number of deaths occurring the same time period last year.
Fentanyl remains present in a high number of illicit drug deaths.
From Jan. 1 through Oct. 31, 2016, fentanyl was detected in 374 cases, about 60 per cent of all illicit drug deaths. That is almost triple the number of fentanyl- detected deaths for the same period last year.
The figures for fentanyl-detected deaths are one month behind those for illicit drug overdoses in general because of the need to wait for more detailed toxicology reports.
Indications are that the number of deaths is remaining high.
On one day last week – Dec. 15 – at least 11 persons died of illicit drug overdose deaths, a majority of them on the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver.
With the number of deaths remaining so high, the BC Coroners Service continues to stress the importance of harm-reduction measures that need to be followed by anyone using any illicit drugs or accompanying anyone who is using.
These include never using alone, having naloxone and medical help readily available when using, using an overdose-prevention site or supervised-consumption site wherever possible, and knowing the signs of an overdose and calling 911 immediately.
The BC Coroners Service continues to work with the provincial government’s Joint Task Force on Overdose Response and with health, community and law-enforcement agencies in an effort to reduce this death toll.
The updated report on illicit drug deaths can be found at www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/public-safety-and-emergency-services/death-investigation/statistical/illicit-drug.pdf
Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General Mike Morris and Minister of Health Terry Lake, issued a joint statement last week in response to the BC Coroners Service updated numbers on overdose fatalities.
“According to statistics just released by the BC Coroners Service, November saw the most tragic number of deaths so far this year. They show we must continue to work together as a health and public-safety system, as a province and as a society to do everything in our power to prevent as many of these deaths as we can. The overdose crisis is taking a great toll on the families and frontline workers who are directly affected.
“Government and numerous partners have put an enormous amount of effort to stem the alarming increase. We must redouble our efforts, because behind each of those numbers is a person with friends and family who are forever impacted.
“With the help of our partners, B.C. has recently moved forward with several new initiatives. We have talked about Terry’s recent tour of the Mobile Medical Unit and an overdose prevention site that opened last week, where he spoke with staff who shared their experiences of reversing overdoses with naloxone and the opportunity these sites provide in connecting people to treatments and services.
“It’s impossible to know how many lives they have saved, and we can’t thank them and people on the frontlines throughout the province enough for the work they’re doing.
“Overdose prevention sites will continue to be set up in high-risk communities across the province. As well, we’ll continue to improve access to treatments, expand the Take Home Naloxone Program, establish additional supervised consumption services and intercept the flow of these fatal drugs onto our streets in B.C.
“We also acknowledge that in addition to these more immediate harm-reduction and public-safety measures, we need to continue to increase access to a range of additional treatment beds and supports.
“We are well on track with opening our promised 500 new beds, and expect to have opened 400 new beds by the end of January, with the remainder coming on-line by March 31.
“But it’s clear additional steps are needed, which is why we are also looking at adding some surge capacity in treatment beds and other treatment resources as soon as possible.
“Because beds alone are not going to solve this – and for many people beds may not be medically the most appropriate path for someone seeking help to recover from opioid addiction – we continue broader work in this area through the BC Centre on Substance Use to improve the effectiveness of the whole treatment system in B.C.
“A lot more action has been taken just in the past few weeks, and we know we still have a lot work ahead of us. The statistics released by the BC Coroners Service today show this work has never been more important, and we will continue to do everything we can here in B.C to combat this crisis.”
The federal government recently announced they will take action under their new Canadian Drugs and Substances Strategy on several initiatives B.C. has advocated for.
The federal strategy includes simplifying the approval process for supervised consumption services – an evidence-based approach which prevents overdose deaths, helps mitigate the spread of communicable diseases and links users with resources for addiction treatment and recovery services. In addition, to interrupt the flow of illegal drugs into Canada, the strategy includes measures like prohibiting the importation of designated devices such as pill presses – unless they are registered with the Minister of Health – and providing Canada Border Service agents the authority to open suspicious packages under 30 grams or less.
A provincial cold-weather strategy has been activated in the hardest-hit communities to provide more tools to prevent overdoses. The Province’s Mobile Medical Unit is now stationed in the Downtown Eastside as an alternative medical-care unit for patients who overdose, relieving pressure in emergency departments such as St. Paul’s Hospital, and freeing up paramedics more quickly for the next 911 call.
Eighteen overdose prevention sites will have opened by the end of December in high-risk areas in Vancouver, Surrey, Victoria, Prince George, Kelowna, Kamloops, Maple Ridge, Langley and Abbotsford.
The sites provide a safe place for people using drugs to be monitored in case of overdose, and are supported through a ministerial order issued Dec. 9, 2016 under the Emergency Health Services Act and Health Authorities Act.
The BC Centre for Disease Control continues to expand the Take Home Naloxone program: 17,828 no-charge naloxone kits have been distributed to date – more than 12,000 this year alone. Naloxone kits are now being dispensed at 367 locations in B.C., including 57 emergency departments and four corrections facilities. To date over 5,700 police members have been trained to use naloxone, with over 30 incidents where naloxone was used.
In July, Premier Christy Clark appointed a Joint Task Force on Overdose Response to provide expert leadership and advice on additional actions to prevent and respond to overdoses in B.C. As part of the response, law enforcement is working at all levels of government to interdict the supply of toxic drugs, and health officials are working to address the immediate and longer-term health needs. To that end, B.C. is expanding access to life-saving naloxone, supervised consumption services, and opioid addiction treatment medications and services.
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