opioid crisis

Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry looks on as chief coroner Lisa Lapointe discusses details about the province’s application for decriminalization in the next step to reduce toxic drug deaths during a news conference in the press gallery at the legislature in Victoria, Monday, Nov. 1, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chad Hipolito

B.C. officials push back against safe supply critics and their ‘polarizing rhetoric’

Officials seek to rebut claims that drugs prescribed through the B.C.’s safe supply program are being re-sold to young people

 

Leslie McBain, co-founder of Moms Stop the Harm, takes part in a news conference on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Tuesday, May 30, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

Drug policy advocate group Moms Stop the Harm wants meeting with Poilievre

MPs defeated Poilievre’s motion that aimed to condemn the Liberal government’s approach to fighting drug addiction

 

An automatic system drops pharmaceutical orders on a conveyor belt to be placed into boxes at Morris and Dickson Co., in Shreveport, Wednesday, July 13, 2016. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration has allowed one of the nation’s largest wholesale drug distributors to keep shipping opioid painkillers for nearly four years after a judge recommended in 2018 it lose its license for its “cavalier disregard” of thousands of suspicious orders fueling the opioid crisis. (Henrietta Wildsmith/The Shreveport Times via AP)

DEA’s failure to punish distributor blamed in opioid crisis raises revolving door questions

Distributor was allowed to keep shipping highly addictive painkillers for nearly 4 years

 

Protesters stop at the intersection of Powell and Main streets in Vancouver to listen to speeches on April 14, 2023 during an event marking the seventh anniversary of the toxic drug deaths in B.C. (Lauren Collins photo)

814 people died from toxic drugs in the first 4 months of 2023: BC Coroners Service

Public Safety Ministry says fentanyl has been found in 79% of deaths this year

Protesters stop at the intersection of Powell and Main streets in Vancouver to listen to speeches on April 14, 2023 during an event marking the seventh anniversary of the toxic drug deaths in B.C. (Lauren Collins photo)
Jesse Sokol, peer coordinator at the Maple Ridge Community Action Table with STORM, also brought meal bags to give out to those in need. (Colleen Flanagan/The News)

VIDEO: Black Balloon Day honoured in Lower Mainland

As of January, 2023, there have been 211 “suspected” illicit drug deaths across B.C. says new report

Jesse Sokol, peer coordinator at the Maple Ridge Community Action Table with STORM, also brought meal bags to give out to those in need. (Colleen Flanagan/The News)
Elizabeth and Kevin Sawatzky on their wedding day. They were happy and looking forward to a long life together, but a drug overdose took all of that away. (submitted photo)

Chilliwack drug overdose victim leaves grieving family behind

Elizabeth Sawatzky dreamed of a long life with husband Kevin until toxic drugs took him away

Elizabeth and Kevin Sawatzky on their wedding day. They were happy and looking forward to a long life together, but a drug overdose took all of that away. (submitted photo)
A new 16-bed mental health evaluation and treatment facility has three double- and 10 single-bed rooms. Heidi Sanders, the Mirror

‘Quite remarkable’: B.C. commits close to $1 billion for mental health, addictions

Investment standout piece from $6.4-billion health-care spending promise

A new 16-bed mental health evaluation and treatment facility has three double- and 10 single-bed rooms. Heidi Sanders, the Mirror
Dr. Charmaine Enns, the North Island medical health officer, recently sent a letter to Campbel River city council urging them to hold off on a illegal drug consumption bylaw. (Black Press file photo)

Health officer pushes back as B.C. town tries to step around drug decriminalization

Campbell River rejects plea to wait six months before forging ahead with drug use ban bylaw

Dr. Charmaine Enns, the North Island medical health officer, recently sent a letter to Campbel River city council urging them to hold off on a illegal drug consumption bylaw. (Black Press file photo)
B.C. Liberal Party Leader Kevin Falcon promises to put about $1.5 billion dollars toward a no-cost recovery-oriented approach toward helping individuals needing treatment and recovery from drug use. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chad Hipolito)

Falcon promises $1.5 billion ‘no-cost recovery-oriented’ approach toward addiction

B.C. Liberal leader said new plan would include recovery centres established across the province

B.C. Liberal Party Leader Kevin Falcon promises to put about $1.5 billion dollars toward a no-cost recovery-oriented approach toward helping individuals needing treatment and recovery from drug use. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chad Hipolito)
Khristina (last name withheld), seen here at Salish Park on Jan. 18, 2023, from Saskatchewan comes to Chilliwack twice a year to find her son who is living on the streets, and to hand out supplies to homeless people. (Paul Henderson/ Chilliwack Progress)

Saskatchewan cattle rancher visits Fraser Valley twice a year to find her homeless son

‘I spent time with him, and that has to be enough’

Khristina (last name withheld), seen here at Salish Park on Jan. 18, 2023, from Saskatchewan comes to Chilliwack twice a year to find her son who is living on the streets, and to hand out supplies to homeless people. (Paul Henderson/ Chilliwack Progress)
Brian O’Donnell, of the B.C. Association of People on Opioid Maintenance, poses for a photograph in the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver, on Friday, December 30, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

B.C. poised for drug decriminalization experiment, but will it help stem deadly tide?

People living in tents along about eight blocks of Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside…

Brian O’Donnell, of the B.C. Association of People on Opioid Maintenance, poses for a photograph in the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver, on Friday, December 30, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
Conservative Party of Canada Leader Pierre Poilievre in Terrace this November. Poilievre also visited Kitimat and Prince Rupert during his northwest B.C. tour. (Michael Bramadat-Willcock/Terrace Standard)

Pierre Poilievre pumps natural gas during northwest B.C. tour

Fiery Conservative leader talks LNG, ‘safe supply’ and reconciliation

Conservative Party of Canada Leader Pierre Poilievre in Terrace this November. Poilievre also visited Kitimat and Prince Rupert during his northwest B.C. tour. (Michael Bramadat-Willcock/Terrace Standard)
Jessica Michalofsky is protesting for safe supply following the death of her son on Aug. 30. (Black Press Media file photo)

VIDEO: B.C. mom running laps around ministry gets meeting with addictions minister

After running 14 marathons around ministry of health building, Jessica Michalofsky sees progress

Jessica Michalofsky is protesting for safe supply following the death of her son on Aug. 30. (Black Press Media file photo)
A person holds a syringe and an orange while learning how to administer Naloxone to an overdose victim, during an International Overdose Awareness Day gathering in Surrey, B.C., on Wednesday, Aug. 31, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

Dozens of recommendations in overdose and drug toxicity report by B.C. MLAs

Report calls for fewer barriers to safe supply, expanded take-home naloxone program

A person holds a syringe and an orange while learning how to administer Naloxone to an overdose victim, during an International Overdose Awareness Day gathering in Surrey, B.C., on Wednesday, Aug. 31, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
Moms Stop the Harm advocates and supporters march from Centennial Square to the Ministry of Health building on the sixth anniversary to mark the public health emergency of the declaration due to the significant increase in opioid-related overdose across the province during the Cut The Red Tape theme in Victoria on Thursday, April 14, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chad Hipolito

B.C. changes opioid lawsuit to help recover more money from drug makers

Changes will allow the federal government to join the legal action

Moms Stop the Harm advocates and supporters march from Centennial Square to the Ministry of Health building on the sixth anniversary to mark the public health emergency of the declaration due to the significant increase in opioid-related overdose across the province during the Cut The Red Tape theme in Victoria on Thursday, April 14, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chad Hipolito
Paramedics respond to a call as Vancouver city councillor Jean Swanson attends a march on International Overdose Awareness Day, in Vancouver, on August 31, 2021. In August 2022, the BC Coroner Service says 169 British Columbians died to the toxic drug supply. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

169 British Columbians killed from toxic drug supply in August: Coroner

Number a small decrease from 192 deaths in July

Paramedics respond to a call as Vancouver city councillor Jean Swanson attends a march on International Overdose Awareness Day, in Vancouver, on August 31, 2021. In August 2022, the BC Coroner Service says 169 British Columbians died to the toxic drug supply. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
A man pauses at a coffin after carrying it during a memorial march to remember victims of overdose deaths in Vancouver on Saturday, August 15, 2020. The B.C. Coroners Service reported 192 more deaths in the month of July 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

190 adults, 2 children died from B.C.’s toxic drug supply in July: Coroner

Number equates to 6.2 deaths per day

A man pauses at a coffin after carrying it during a memorial march to remember victims of overdose deaths in Vancouver on Saturday, August 15, 2020. The B.C. Coroners Service reported 192 more deaths in the month of July 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
The Tiny Home Village in Victoria’s North Park neighbourhood welcomed 30 residents in May 2021. (Black Press Media file photo)

Tiny home villages as solution to homelessness? 3 B.C. mayors say yes

Sites up and running in Victoria and Duncan, Port Alberni on its way to do the same

The Tiny Home Village in Victoria’s North Park neighbourhood welcomed 30 residents in May 2021. (Black Press Media file photo)
Overdose Awareness Manitoba is asking people across Canada and beyond to draw attention to those lost to the toxic drug supply by displaying an empty purple chair. Aug. 31 is International Overdose Awareness Day. (Overdose Awareness Manitoba/Twitter)

Why you may see purple chairs popping up on International Overdose Awareness Day

Empty purple chairs represent those lost to the toxic drug supply

Overdose Awareness Manitoba is asking people across Canada and beyond to draw attention to those lost to the toxic drug supply by displaying an empty purple chair. Aug. 31 is International Overdose Awareness Day. (Overdose Awareness Manitoba/Twitter)
Moms Stop the Harm advocates and supporters gather at Centennial Square on the sixth anniversary of a public health emergency due to the opioid-related deaths across British Columbia, in Victoria on April 14, 2022. B.C. says it has suffered more than 10,000 overdose deaths since the province declared a public health emergency in April 2016. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chad Hipolito

Moms Stop the Harm planning overdose awareness events across B.C.

Grassroots group teaching naloxone administration and providing place to grieve without stigma

Moms Stop the Harm advocates and supporters gather at Centennial Square on the sixth anniversary of a public health emergency due to the opioid-related deaths across British Columbia, in Victoria on April 14, 2022. B.C. says it has suffered more than 10,000 overdose deaths since the province declared a public health emergency in April 2016. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chad Hipolito