BC Drug Crisis

• Rising drug poisonings prompt rare B.C.-wide alert over medetomidine

  The BC Centre for Disease Control has issued a provincewide drug alert as poisonings rise, warning that medetomidine is increasingly present in the unregulated drug supply.

  Canada

  Jan 28
  
• B.C. First Nations declare state of emergency due to toxic drug deaths in communities

  The council is now calling on the provincial and federal governments and health authorities to resource strategies that take swift and meaningful action to combat the drug crisis.

  Health

  Sep 19, 2024
  
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• Death of 18-year-old UVic student from fentanyl prompts B.C. government to act

  Sidney McIntyre-Starko's mother is calling for CPR and Naloxone training to be mandatory in high schools and for nasal naloxone kits to be widely available in schools.

  Health

  May 20, 2024
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• Drug use in B.C.’s hospitals sparks feisty debate in the legislature

  The Official Opposition, B.C. United, called out the government over a string of stories about illegal drug use in hospitals, with users allowed to leave their beds.

  Politics

  Apr 11, 2024
• Suspected arson at Gastown condo building damages numerous suites

  The building's sprinkler system extinguished the fire quickly and there was only minor fire damage but a number of units sustained water damage.

  Fire

  Apr 8, 2024
• Work never stops for Vancouver’s Overdose Prevention Society even on Christmas

  The overdose prevention society runs several tents across Vancouver's Downtown Eastside neighbourhood, including one on East Hastings Street.

  Health

  Dec 27, 2023
• ‘Critically important’: B.C. needs safe places to inhale drugs, coroner says

  Nearly two-thirds of the overdose deaths in British Columbia this year came after smoking illicit drugs.

  Health

  Oct 1, 2023
• Dr. Bonnie Henry urges patience as delegates vote on drug crisis resolutions this week

  Henry says decriminalization is meant to remove the label from drug users to promote safer use and to save lives.

  Health

  Sep 18, 2023
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• City of Campbell River bans all drug use on public property

  Council approved the bylaw just days before B.C.'s three-year decriminalization trial came into effect. Those caught using drugs in public places could face a $200 fine.

  Health

  Feb 2, 2023
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• ‘It is hell on earth’: Federal Conservative leader on how B.C. is managing its drug crisis

  According to the B.C. Coroners Service, there were 529 deaths from illicit drugs in the province in 2015. That number rose to 2,272 in 2022.

  Politics

  Feb 1, 2023