3rd death review report into B.C.’s toxic drug crisis warns over complacency | CBC News

The latest report from a panel of experts into deaths caused by toxic, unregulated drugs in British Columbia says a better model for safer supply is needed now, with the rate of fatalities having doubled since a public health emergency was declared in April 2016.

Entitled An Urgent Response to a Continuing Crisis, the 48-page report was compiled by a panel of 21 subject experts from health authorities and related organizations.

It’s the third report of its kind to lay bare the scope and complexity of the crisis, and the need for solutions to stem the pace of people dying from toxic drugs — which is currently about six every day across the province.

Since the public health emergency was declared, 13,112 people in the province have died of toxic drugs. The report estimates as many of 225,000 others remain at risk of injury or death.

The panel affirmed the need for a comprehensive and timely approach to the crisis.

It said the quickest way to limit deaths from toxic drugs is to reduce dependence on the unregulated toxic drug supply, by creating access to a quality-controlled, regulated supply of drugs for people at risk.

“We can and must do better to reduce the number of deaths caused by the unregulated drug supply in our province,” wrote Michael Egilson, the chair of the death review panel.

“Existing responses, initiatives and services, and their associated allocated resources, have not been commensurate with the urgency, magnitude and scope of the crisis,” the report stated.

Some safer supply initiatives exist in B.C., primarily through the health-care system. But the province says about 20 per cent of British Columbians do not have a primary-care provider, which limits access to safer supply for many.

The panel said fewer than 5,000 people receive safer supply prescriptions each month.

The panel questioned the current model’s ability to address the crisis and built on recommendations in the panel’s second report from March last year, which also included a non-medicalized approach — that is, existing outside of the health-care system — to complement the existing medical model for safer supply.

“The new approach would be more nimble, scalable and responsive to the unique needs of people in communities that are rural and remote, and/or that lack the infrastructure required by the medical model,” said a news release about the panel’s report.

Other recommendations, which were also made in the 2022 death panel report, include applying for a federal exemption to allow prescription-free access to opioid and stimulant drugs for people at risk of dying due to drug toxicity, and better engagement with people with lived experience from the crisis.

Minister’s commitment

In a separate release, Minister of Mental Health and Addictions Jennifer Whiteside said the toxic-drug crisis “continues to devastate families and communities throughout B.C.”

She chronicled several initiatives to expand prevention, treatment and recovery services in the province. 

“As we continue to improve access to mental-health and addictions care in communities throughout B.C., we are also expanding access to early intervention and prevention programs, harm-reduction tools and resources, treatment and recovery services and complex-care housing,” said Whiteside about the $1 billion earmarked in the province’s 2023 budget to address the crisis.

She said little about how the province was working to meet the main recommendation from the panel, which is to deliver a safer-supply model outside of the health-care system.

The report was released the same day that the coroner also made public unregulated drug death statistics from September.

The latest figures show 175 lives were lost to toxic drugs in September 2023, an average of approximately 5.8 deaths per day.

In 2023, nearly 70 per cent of those dying were aged 30-59, while nearly 80 per cent of victims were male.

The September numbers represent a 10 per cent decrease over the number of deaths compared to September 2022, when there were 194, and a two per cent decrease over the number of deaths in August, when there were 178.