3803 replies to this topic

[Victoria Watcher]

Fatal overdoses

 

 

Data released from the BC Coroners Service in December shows 1,782 British Columbians died of an overdose during the first 10 months of 2021. The toxic drug supply remains among the province’s top causes of death.

 

However, February 2021 Statistics Canada reporting said that despite a widely held view that medical prescribing contributed to the overdose crisis, one study showed that most cohort members did not have a prescription for a pain-relieving opioid when they overdosed, and half did not have a prescription in the five years prior to their overdose.

 

 

https://www.timescol...y-shows-4940716

 

 

 

 

Sounds like half or more just liked to get high.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 11 January 2022 - 07:08 PM.

[Dexter]

More deaths than Covid but nothing changes

[Victoria Watcher]

B.C. paramedics receive record number of overdose calls in 2021, up 31% since 2020

 

Calls have nearly tripled since 2015, BCEHS says

 

Overdoses can be called in by witnesses or through the Lifeguard app, which allows the drug user to record what substances they are taking, their address and set a timer. If the user doesn’t turn off the timer, it will begin to blare – alerting people nearby – and then call 911 for paramedics or firefighters to respond to the address. Police are not alerted.

________________________

Overdose calls have nearly tripled since 2015, when BCEHS received 12,263 calls. In 2016, the agency received 19,275 calls, in 2017 it received 23,441 calls, in 2018 it received 23,662 calls, in 2019 it received 24,166 calls and in 2020 it received 27,067 calls. B.C. declared the overdose crisis a public health emergency in 2016.

_________________________

Urban centres in B.C. send out the most calls for overdose aid. Vancouver had 9,993 calls (23 per cent increase since 2020), Surrey had 3,674 (49 per cent increase), Victoria had 1,952 (24 per cent increase) and Abbotsford had 1,368 (46 per cent increase).

 

https://www.saanichn...-31-since-2020/

 

 

 

Vancouver had 9,993 calls (23 per cent increase since 2020) - 1,479 overdoes per 100,000 population

Surrey had 3,674 (49 per cent increase) - 708 overdoses per overdoes per 100,000 population

Victoria had 1,952 (24 per cent increase) - 2,119 per overdoes per 100,000 population   

Abbotsford had 1,368 (46 per cent increase) - 912 overdoses per 100,000 population

 

Saanich had 342 - 286 overdoses per 100,000 population

Esquimalt had 75

Oak Bay had 28

Colwood 46

Sooke 62

 

http://www.bcehs.ca/...-poisoning-data

 

 

 

We're #1!   

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 13 January 2022 - 02:41 PM.

[Nparker]

Declaring the situation as a crisis has only made things worse.

[On the Level]

Looks like UVIC has a plan as well thought out as housing first.   

Attached Images

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[Victoria Watcher]

Grace Lore, BC’s Parliamentary Secretary for Gender Equity, made the announcement on Friday, January 14.

The province has amended its requirements for people to change their gender markers on official provincial identification documents.

“I’m excited to announce that as of January 10, this last Monday, confirmation from a physician or psychologist will no longer be required for an individual to change their gender designation on the BC Services Card BC Drivers license, BC ID, or birth certificate.”


https://dailyhive.co...ement-change-id



Why even have a “gender marker” on the card? Maybe there was never a great reason. But seems even less useful now.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 14 January 2022 - 01:44 PM.

[lanforod]

That is a good question. Maybe just remove it. Probably the only place that should be needed is your gender (at birth), on your health record.

[Victoria Watcher]

Alberta wants to go down the same path as BC:

 

 

 

 

https://www.theglobe...appeal-hearing/

 

A lawyer for groups that advocate for drug users has written to the Alberta Court of Appeal, seeking an emergency hearing to stop a provincial policy requiring people to identify themselves before they use a safe consumption site.

 

The policy, which requires users to show their personal health number, is due to go into place Jan. 31, but lawyer Avnish Nanda was not able to persuade a judge to grant an injunction to halt its implementation. In a ruling last week, the judge acknowledged that while the policy could hurt some drug users, it was in the public interest for it to go ahead.

 

“It’s rare to obtain an expedited hearing but we are seeking one because of the serious harms that will occur if the injunction dismissal is not overturned, including, as the judge who heard the injunction application accepted, mass death,” Mr. Nanda told The Globe and Mail.

 

In his ruling Jan. 10, Justice R. Paul Belzil of the Court of Queen’s Bench in Edmonton rejected the harm-reduction groups’ application for an interlocutory injunction, which would have immediately suspended the implementation of the requirement.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Alberta:

 

 

Health Analytics Alberta has shown that at least 1,372 people died from drug poisoning in Alberta from January to October, 2021, with the past two months still being accounted for. Comparably, 1,087 people died from drug poisoning in Alberta over the same period in 2020.

 

 

BC:

 

An increasingly toxic and volatile illicit drug supply has claimed at least 201 lives in October and 1,782 lives in the first 10 months of 2021, according to the latest preliminary data released by the BC Coroners Service.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 16 January 2022 - 08:42 PM.

[Nparker]

...A lawyer for groups that advocate for drug users has written to the Alberta Court of Appeal, seeking an emergency hearing to stop a provincial policy requiring people to identify themselves before they use a safe consumption site...

Yet my having to identify myself - including showing my vaccination status and photo ID - before I take part in a "dangerous" activity like going to a restaurant or a movie doesn't seem to bother anyone. 

[Victoria Watcher]

A new larger overdose ­prevention facility is planned at a yet-to-be-determined location in Nanaimo’s downtown as illicit drugs continue to take their toll.

 

Island Health has issued a request for proposals for an operator to run a site where both injection and inhalation of drugs would be witnessed by trained staff or volunteers able to respond to an overdose. The opportunity for a two-year contract with the possibility of renewal closes Feb. 15.

 

_____________________

 

The province is moving to expand services in Nanaimo where the existing overdose prevention site is located within a sheltered housing ­facility. That site does not allow for ­supervised inhalation, an increasingly popular method of drug use.    

 

 

https://www.timescol...nanaimo-4978923

 

 

Maybe.  Just maybe.  The jurisdiction with the highest overdose rate in North America, and an extended OD "emergency" now several years in, should try a different approach, rather than more of the same.

 

All these centres promise to connect the clients to "services" etc. but do we have any proof illicit drug use is declining?  Or does it continue to increase?  I already know the answer, but just putting it out there.  Those stats would be useful to see.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 21 January 2022 - 06:44 AM.

[Nparker]

When a strategy fails, double-down on it I always say.

[Victoria Watcher]

What we have is the highest death rate ever, but we do not now if that's a consequence of an increase in persons using, or of a increasingly "toxic" drug supply - or both.  WHY do we not have statistics?

[A Girl is No one]

What we have is the highest death rate ever, but we do not now if that's a consequence of an increase in persons using, or of a increasingly "toxic" drug supply - or both. WHY do we not have statistics?

Exactly what I’ve been thinking/saying for a long time now. There is zero interest in tracking the number of drug users. Maybe those preventative measures such as safe injection sites work fabulously at keeping people alive but the OD deaths increase because more people are using (maybe because of the open arms and acceptance attitudes of our governments and all the benefits that come with being a user?). That would be the most basic measure to try and assess success.

[Victoria Watcher]

BCEHS figures show paramedics responded to 1,952 overdose calls in the City of Victoria alone last year, ranking it behind Vancouver (9,993) and Surrey (3,674). The B.C. capital’s total represents an increase of 24.4 per cent over 2020 and is 69.8 per cent higher than in 2016, the first year B.C. declared a public health emergency due to the number of opioid-related deaths.

Based on the latest population estimates from BC Statistics (2020), Victoria had a ratio of 2,067 calls per 100,000 residents, a higher rate than both Vancouver (1,433) and Surrey (613).

https://www.saanichn...than-vancouver/

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 22 January 2022 - 05:34 AM.

[A Girl is No one]

Bring it on!
The mayor’s dream come true.

Edited by A Girl is No one, 22 January 2022 - 07:09 AM.

[Moderation]

BCEHS figures show paramedics responded to 1,952 overdose calls in the City of Victoria alone last year, ranking it behind Vancouver (9,993) and Surrey (3,674). The B.C. capital’s total represents an increase of 24.4 per cent over 2020 and is 69.8 per cent higher than in 2016, the first year B.C. declared a public health emergency due to the number of opioid-related deaths.

Based on the latest population estimates from BC Statistics (2020), Victoria had a ratio of 2,067 calls per 100,000 residents, a higher rate than both Vancouver (1,433) and Surrey (613).

https://www.saanichn...than-vancouver/

Might be interesting to also compare based on city area. We all know Victoria is a very small in area . Do we have the data to compare it with Vancouver down town east side area or a similar square KM in Vancouver or Surrey equal to Victoria?.

[Victoria Watcher]

Why?

I can assure you few of our overdoses are occurring in Fairfield and Rockland and probably not James Bay or Fernwood or Oaklands either.

The comparison is per capita based on the municipality.

And we have not only the highest number of overdose prevention sites in North America, but we also have the highest overdose rate in North America.

[Moderation]

https://bc.ctvnews.c...shows-1.5738116

[A Girl is No one]

“ The province declared the overdose crisis a public health emergency in 2016, and the number of overdoses paramedics have responded to has risen every year since, according to BCEHS figures. ”

That pretty much describes what happens when government gets involved in anything…

[Victoria Watcher]

Not just rise. But rise to the highest level in North America.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 22 January 2022 - 08:19 PM.