Vancouver Police are ringing the alarm over a surge in overdoses in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside Saturday morning.
Police say a dozen suspected drug overdoses occurred around Columbia and Gore streets before noon on Saturday, however none of those overdoses were fatal.
They are now warning opioid drug users to take extra precautions. As usual, police say users should carry a naloxone kit, not take drugs alone and call 9-1-1 in the case of an overdose.
The spike in overdoses comes after Vancouver Fire and Rescue Services reported 162 overdose calls last week, a jump of 56 per cent from the week before.
“It’s abominable that with 100 overdose deaths already this year in Vancouver – almost half of 2016’s total – we have yet to see effective action from the provincial and federal governments on health care solutions that will stop the death toll in this fentanyl crisis,” Mayor Gregor Robertson said in a news release.
Vancouver is already on pace to double the number of overdose deaths seen in 2016. So far this year, there have been over 100 drug-related deaths, compared to 215 in all of 2016.
–With files from Simran Gill
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