B.C. boosts funding in bid to stem overdose death toll
Horgan: ‘These are our sons and our daughters … it’s not acceptable’
VANCOUVER — People on the front lines of B.C.’s opioid overdose crisis are applauding the government’s announcement of more funding in an attempt to stem the death toll.
Premier John Horgan announced Friday the province will spend about $31 million over the next three years to increase access to treatment programs, offer more free kits of the overdose-reversing drug naloxone, help front-line workers and empower communities to keep people safe.
Speaking at the Union of B.C. Municipalities Convention, Horgan said 876 people died in the province in the first seven months of 2017. “These are our sons and our daughters, our brothers and our sisters, our mothers and our fathers. And if today is an average day, four more people will die. And that’s just not acceptable to me and I know it’s not acceptable to you.”
The programs will be funded with $322 million allocated to combat the crisis in the government’s recent budget update.
Part of the money will go to rapid-access treatment for people seeking help. New addiction clinics will be opened and existing clinics will expand their hours in Vancouver, Burnaby, Chilliwack, Abbotsford, Mission and Langley.
Dr. Evan Wood, director of the B.C. Centre on Substance Use, said expanding access to treatment is key to addressing the crisis. He wants to see a scenario where people get help when they ask for it.
“The key will really be if somebody shows up in an emergency room, this is a health condition like any other and people are able to get care,” he said in an interview.
Traditionally, people who come to an emergency room for conditions such as a heart attack get great care, but those who arrive suffering from opioid withdrawal don’t get the help they need, he said.
Providing long-term care will also be critical because addiction is a chronic disease, Wood said.
B.C. will also create a community crisis innovation fund “to support nimble, innovative, community-based actions with an immediate impact on the ground,” the province said in a statement.
Aiyanas Ormond with the Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users said the funding for community groups is welcome, but there are concerns about the province spending more on policing drug laws. The group would rather see money for housing, he said.
Another $31 million has been set aside over three years to support public safety and cut off supplies of fentanyl, which the B.C. Coroners Service has said was detected in more than 80 per cent of illicit drug deaths this year.
More police officers will be hired and an anti-trafficking team will be created, Horgan said. “We’re going to do everything we can to get fentanyl out of our streets while we treat the people who are afflicted by it.