Langley councillor calls for provincial help to battle overdose crisis

A Langley city councillor says his community is being overwhelmed by the overdose crisis, and is calling for the province to step in.

Coun. Nathan Pachal says according to statistics collected by the City of Langley, the number of 911 calls under the category of “medical emergency and motor vehicle accidents” has jumped from just 116 per year to more than 2,600.

That spike can mainly be attributed to overdose calls, according to Pachal.

“In my opinion the provincial government has a responsibility here,” he said.

“Because otherwise it appears to be provincial downloading, and we have to make sure residents are getting the level of service they expect.”

Pachal said municipal budgets are struggling to meet ballooning costs associated with responding to medical emergencies.

“The thing we need to look for is actually working on destigmatization, looking at making sure people who are overdosing have access to things like naloxone.”

Pachal said the majority of overdoses aren’t happening on the street, and don’t match the stereotypical image people have in their mind. He says data shows young men who are employed and have a place to live are mainly the ones who are overdosing.

According to the BC Coroners Service, at least six people have died of suspected drug overdoses in Langley this year, while 36 died in 2017. Province-wide, 228 people lost their lives to overdoses in February of this year.