Opioid ODs suspected in another seven deaths

A total of seven people died of a suspected overdose in Vancouver during the week of Sept. 10, adding to the grim tally that keeps rising and which seems to have no end in sight.

The City of Vancouver says an estimated 265 people have died of a suspected overdose in Vancouver in 2018, putting it on par with 2017 figures, which saw 266 people die from an OD between January and the end of August.

Suppliers and dealers continue to cut street drugs like heroin, cocaine and methamphetamine with potent adulterants, typically fentanyl, which coroners detected in 81 per cent of the deaths this year.

Last week’s deaths come weeks after Vancouver Coastal Health issued a warning to users that Carfentanil had been detected in the local street drug supply.

A synthetic opioid used commercially as an elephant tranquillizer, Carfentanil is 10,000 times more potent than morphine and 50 to 100 times more potent than fentanyl.

Toxicology reports on the most recent deaths aren’t yet complete, and final overdose death numbers need to be confirmed by the B.C. Coroners Service.

“With the crisis showing no sign of slowing down, the city welcomes this month’s agreement by the federal and provincial governments to invest more than $70 million to improve and increase access to quality treatment services for substance-use disorder,” the City of Vancouver said in a statement.