Pubdate: Sat, 17 Dec 2016
Source: Vancouver Sun (CN BC)
Copyright: 2016 Postmedia Network Inc.
Contact:  http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/477
Author: Nick Eagland
Page: A3

DEADLIEST DRUG DAY RATTLES PROVINCE

Nine die in Vancouver, 13 across B.C. from overdoses overnight
Thursday

Vancouver officials issued a plea to the provincial government Friday
for more addiction-treatment funding after B.C. faced the deadliest
day yet of its drug-overdose crisis, with 13 people dying Thursday..

On Friday, the B.C. Coroners Service issued an urgent warning to drug
users, particularly those in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside, to take
extra precautions after an "unprecedented number of fatalities" were
reported in the province.

In just one day, nine people died in Vancouver, one in Burnaby, two in
the Fraser Health region and another in northern B.C., according to
the coroners service.

"We are not sure what has caused this very distressing spike in
fatalities," Chief Coroner Lisa Lapointe said in a statement. "It will
take detailed toxicology testing and further investigation to try to
determine that."

In the first 10 months of 2016, 622 people died of illicit-drug
overdose in B.C. The toxic synthetic opioid fentanyl was detected in
about 60 per cent of cases. Recently, carfentanil, a lethal elephant
tranquillizer, has turned up in the illicit-drug supply.

Following news of the deaths, Vancouver Chief Const. Adam Palmer -
flanked by fire and health officials as well as Vancouver Mayor Gregor
Robertson - called on the provincial government to fund "treatment on
demand."

"We're seeing a record number of overdoses in neighbourhoods all over
Vancouver and it's getting worse," said Palmer, noting that eight of
the nine who died in the city were in the Downtown Eastside.

"The fentanyl crisis … is bringing a new level of urgency to address
the lack of detox and treatment options available to people. We need a
long-term strategy to help people in crisis," he said.

Palmer said gaps in the province's treatment system are failing drug
users who are ready to overcome their addiction. He said people are
asking first responders and other service providers in the city for
help with finding treatment but it's not always available, and those
without a recovery plan after detoxing are at higher risk of relapse.

"When somebody is ready, they are ready to get off drugs," he said.
"We need to help them right away because they are at risk of dying if
we don't help them."

Robertson said the city is grateful for added harm-reduction measures
recently introduced by the provincial government. But he said
addictions treatment in B.C. has been "woefully inadequate" for many
years now and not addressing the "root causes" of the crisis will not
allow people to heal.

"We're seeing the impacts of that now on our streets," he said. "We
cannot continue to indefinitely react to this crisis and purely appeal
to the harm reduction piece."

The mayor called on the B.C. government to make "significant upstream
investments in treatment and detox" to help Vancouver's 1,300
illicit-opioid users break the cycle of addiction and avoid death.

"It's desperate times in Vancouver and it's hard to see any silver
lining right now when we don't seem to have hit rock bottom with the
number of people dying on any given day from an overdose," he said.

Health Minister Terry Lake and Minister of Public Safety Mike Morris
issued a joint statement Friday acknowledging the "sense of urgency
and crisis being felt in Vancouver."

They said the province takes the situation very seriously, citing
provincial health officer Dr. Perry Kendall's declaration of a public
health emergency in April and Clark's establishment of a joint task
force to bolster the province's response.

"The overdose crisis is a very complex issue involving many social
factors, including housing, public safety, policing, border control,
public health, harm reduction, and addiction and recovery treatment,
as well as legislation that crosses many jurisdictional boundaries,"
they said. "There is no quick and easy solution, but we are taking
decisive action across all sectors to do all we can to respond and
save lives."

The ministers said more than $43 million so far has been earmarked to
address the crisis, which has funded important harm-reduction measures
such as expanded access to the overdose-reversing drug naloxone,
overdose prevention sites and the deployment of the Mobile Medical
Unit to the Downtown Eastside.

"There is also significant work taking place on the longer-term
solutions required to ensure we have a more co-ordinated and
accessible system of care for addictions treatment," they said.

The ministers said the province stands by its commitment to introduce
500 new substance use beds in 2017 - after originally saying this
would be done "by 2017" - and expects to have them ready by end of
March after a "significant number" open in January.

"But we also know that beds are not the only answer to this public
health emergency - the solution involves the full continuum of care -
from community and primary care, withdrawal management, supportive
recovery, concurrent disorders program as well as residential
treatment, and how the different pieces of the system interact," they
said.

Premier Christy Clark defended the province's response to the crisis,
saying her government has "gotten to work on our side of it, which is
the health care side," by supporting people with a comprehensive range
of services and expanding treatment.

"I think this crisis is so bad and so urgent that finger pointing and
ideologies and political positions have no place in it," Clark said.
"And so I think what we all need to do is work constructively as fast
as we possibly can."

Friday afternoon in the Downtown Eastside, Jason Pierre identified his
cousin, Owen Joe, as being among those who died Thursday. Pierre said
Joe was found alone in his room at the Colonial Hotel in Gastown.

"I want everyone to know that he wasn't just an addict. He was a human
being and he had a lot of aspirations and goals like we all do,"
Pierre said. "The addiction just consumed him."

When Joe finally sought help, Pierre said it was short-lived due to
what he believed were funding cuts that closed the facility where Joe
had been seeking treatment. "When you want to combat your addiction
and your alcoholism, it needs to be right now," said Pierre. "It can't
be a two-week waiting list because you're susceptible, especially when
you live down here."

- - With files from Rob Shaw, Stephanie Ip
- ---
MAP posted-by: Matt