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Overdose deaths in Vancouver reached 358 last year

Dr. Patricia Daly recommends widespread drug checking be made available to drug users who use alone
The BC Coroners Service said Wednesday that 1,422 people died of a suspected drug overdose in B.C. l
The BC Coroners Service said Wednesday that 1,422 people died of a suspected drug overdose in B.C. last year, with 358 recorded in Vancouver. Photo Dan Toulgoet

The chief medical health officer for Vancouver Coastal Health is recommending drug checking test strips be made available to drug users who use alone in their homes to reduce the number of people who die of an overdose.

Dr. Patricia Daly, who doubles as executive director of the newly created B.C. Overdose Emergency Response Centre at Vancouver General Hospital, said test strips are used at supervised injection sites and overdose prevention sites but are not readily available for people who use drugs alone at home.

“We need to ensure that technology is available to people who intend to consume their drugs alone in their own residences, so that’s something we’ll be focusing on in the coming year,” said Daly at a news conference Wednesday in which the BC Coroners Service released data showing 1,422 people died of a suspected drug overdose in B.C. last year, with 358 in Vancouver.

The statistics revealed 88 per cent of the deaths occurred inside, with 60 per cent in a private residence and 28 per cent in other inside locations. Others occurred outside on the streets, sidewalks, parks and in vehicles.

The majority of people who died — 82 per cent — were males, with 90 per cent of overall deaths occurring to people between 19 and 59.

Daly acknowledged her recommendation to offer drug checking for people outside of harm reduction facilities is “pushing the boundaries a little bit because there are differences of opinion about this.”

But, she said, a “drug testing night” was offered in Vancouver, where people could bring drugs to a supervised consumption site to check for such narcotics as fentanyl, which were connected to 81 per cent of deaths last year.

“I think we need to think about giving out the urine test strips to people who intend to consume home alone,” she said. “The concern from some is those test strips are not always 100 per cent accurate. But I think they’re accurate enough that they could make a difference to people who are consuming alone.”

At the Insite supervised injection site, a client can check their drug of choice by diluting the substance with a few drops of water on a test strip. A positive or negative reading for fentanyl is revealed in seconds. The test strips are a product originally developed to check urine for fentanyl and not intended for drug checking.

Chief Coroner Lisa Lapointe cautioned Wednesday that the 1,422 suspected overdose deaths is a preliminary count, with the death toll to increase once more investigations are completed.

“The 2017 data reflects the most tragic year ever with respect to illicit drug deaths in British Columbia,” said Lapointe, noting 993 people died of an overdose in 2016 and 518 in 2015.

Illicit drug deaths by top townships 2007-2017
Source: Image courtesy B.C. Coroners Service

Lapointe, Daly and provincial health officer Dr. Perry Kendall all pointed to the continued work of first responders, community volunteers and others fighting the opioid crisis as crucial in saving hundreds of lives during the epidemic.

The widespread use of the overdose-reversing drug naloxone, more treatment options, substitution drug therapy and expansion of overdose prevention sites have also been effective in reducing deaths.

Kendall, who spent his last day on the job Wednesday, said despite the “heroic and unprecedented actions” of many on the frontlines of the crisis, the death toll suggests more strategies are needed.

“Clearly, we are actually going to need to think more broadly, and also think further outside the box and our comfort zones, if we are going to get ahead of and turn this epidemic around,” he said.

As an example, he pointed to the controversial recommendation from colleague, Dr. Mark Tyndall of the B.C. Centre for Disease Control, to provide non-toxic opioids to drug users outside of a traditional treatment setting.

“This is something that hasn’t happened anywhere since the UK shut down its long-running heroin prescription program in the mid-1960s,” he said. “I think this needs to be carefully done, appraised, evaluated and given support when it works.”

Kendall said he was encouraged by federal Liberal MPs pushing for decriminalization of possession of drugs for personal use much like what occurred in Portugal.

“At the very least, we should be working to decriminalize the individuals who are at risk in this epidemic,” he said. “This is a large and challenging agenda. In my opinion, we need to look at all of these things and have conversations that we may have been afraid of having before, and move ahead.”

mhowell@vancourier.com

@howellings