VANCOUVER — Nearly two-thirds of the overdose deaths in British Columbia this year came after smoking illicit drugs, yet only 40 per cent of the supervised consumption sites in the province offer a safe place to smoke, and the chief coroner says that
Lisa Lapointe said the latest data show 65 per cent of overdose deaths in 2023 came after smoking drugs, compared to 15 per cent involving injection, 14 per cent snorting and five per cent from oral consumption. The coroners' office notes that people can consume using multiple methods.
"If we truly want to reduce the risk, and reduce the numbers of deaths, and help make our communities safer, then there needs to be an acknowledgment that providing a safe place for people to use drugs is critically important," Lapointe said.Those who study the topic say a combination of stigma, bureaucracy and a lack of political will are all obstacles to setting up more sites for smoking drugs.
Nicole Luongo, the systems change co-ordinator for the Canadian Drug Policy Coalition, based at Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, B.C., said the rules around setting up safe inhalation sites are overly complicated but don't have to be, given the extra powers the government has to act under the emergency declaration.
It says considerations for implementing inhalation sites include whether there is a suitable outdoor space, particularly during the winter, occupational health and safety concerns and worker safety issues, primarily due to specialized ventilation requirements. Luongo said that level of stigma is a sign for Ottawa to declare a nationwide emergency, and both the province and the federal government need to"actually enforce pathways for implementing things like harm reduction services, as well as access to a regulated safe supply with various options for administration."
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