Pubdate: Mon, 29 Aug 2016
Source: Vancouver Sun (CN BC)
Page: A9
Copyright: 2016 Postmedia Network Inc.
Contact:  http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/477
Author: Matt Robinson

FRASER HEALTH TACKLES DRUG OVERDOSE CRISIS

Fraser Health has recently opened 50 new substance use recovery beds 
- - including a dozen for pregnant women - and will today launch a pair 
of new posters in a bid to reach specific users at risk in B.C.'s 
ongoing overdose crisis.

The new treatment and prevention measures were designed after looking 
closely at overdose data and finding support gaps, said Victoria Lee, 
the chief medical health officer and vice-president for population 
health at Fraser Health.

Lee said that while the data shows men aged 30-49 tend to overdose at 
greater numbers than do other groups, teens, seniors and women can be 
counted among the hundreds dead so far this year.

"Overdoses do not discriminate," Lee said. "The people affected by 
this are your sister, your brother, children and parents."

Some of the new recovery beds are for young people. Others are for 
women, including women who are expecting or who have newborn 
children. The intention of the new beds is to make sure anyone 
willing and ready to get treatment can get it.

Meanwhile, the new posters are aimed at making sure substance users 
who are not seeking treatment know how to use in safer ways. Scare 
tactics don't necessarily work with people who use drugs regularly, 
Lee said, and these posters don't use them.

"If you use drugs: Have a plan. Go slowly. Use with a buddy. Carry 
Naloxone," reads one. Naloxone is an easy-to-use overdose-reversing 
drug that the health authority has distributed to users this year.

"A needle with fentanyl can kill you. A needle with Naloxone can save 
your life," reads the other.

Near the bottom of each poster is a line that reads: "Lethal drugs 
are circulating."

For health providers, that message cannot be overstated. B.C.'s 
provincial health officer called a public health emergency this 
spring when it became clear that the province could see as many as 
800 overdose deaths by the end of the year. The new emergency powers 
gave medical health officers fast access to overdose data so they 
could respond quickly to rising threats.

Chief among the threats is fentanyl. As of last month, the opiate had 
been detected in about 60 per cent of this year's fatal overdoses. It 
is deadly in small amounts and suppliers are cutting it into cocaine, 
heroin, amphetamines, ecstasy and other drugs.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom