Vancouver Fire and Rescue Services say the total number of overdose calls reported during the month of March was 565, an increase of 18 per cent from February.
There were 115 overdose calls received in the week of March 27 alone.
On Saturday, Vancouver Police issued a special warning after a dozen suspected drug overdoses were reported in the morning hours around the area of Gore and Columbia on Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside. None of the overdoses were fatal.
So far this year, there have been more than 100 overdose deaths in Vancouver. There were 215 overdose deaths in Vancouver in all of 2016.
The city says if rates of overdose deaths continue at this pace, Vancouver could see 400 deaths in 2017 — almost double the number seen last year.
“Over 100 people have died of drug overdose in Vancouver so far this year in the fentanyl crisis – already half the number in all of 2016,” Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson said in a release. “The fentanyl crisis was declared a public health emergency almost a year ago and I’m outraged by the lack of effective action from the provincial government.”
Robertson is pointing fingers at the provincial government saying that despite the $10 million injection from the federal government to fight the overdose crisis earlier this year, the B.C. government has refused to support solutions like treatment-on-demand to immediately save lives and curb the growing death toll.
READ MORE: B.C., Ottawa sign $1.4B health deal to address opioid crisis
On Wednesday, Vancouver city councillor Kerry Jang and city staff were in Ottawa to present to the Standing Senate Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs on the impact of the crisis on the city.
They also highlighted important changes that the City would like to see with regard to the new Controlled Drugs and Substances Act (Bill C37) — specifically, that there should be more local autonomy regarding what harm reduction resources are needed to stop the crisis and that applications for exceptions to start new supervised consumption sites be simplified.
The City says applications for two new supervised injection sites in Vancouver were submitted by Vancouver Coastal Health in October and approval by the federal government has yet to come.
On April 12, B.C.’s provincial health officer Dr. Perry Kendall is expected to provide an update on the overdose crisis nearly one year after he declared a public health emergency.
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