Opioid-related deaths surged in Ontario after the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020, with a total of 2,050 people dying between the months of March and December, according to a report released on Wednesday.
Advocates share fear of worsening overdose crisis in 2021, want national safe supply
by Nick Wells, The Canadian Press
Posted Dec 17, 2020 4:00 am EDT
Last Updated Dec 17, 2020 at 4:14 am EDT
VANCOUVER With overdose deaths rising across Canada, advocates for drug users are calling for the implementation of a national safe supply program as part of an effort to save lives.
Failing to do so, they say, will lead to more deaths from overdoses across the country.
A public health emergency was declared in 2016, a year that saw 991 deaths. More than 1,500 people have died in British Columbia from illicit drug overdoses in 2020.
Ontario’s chief coroner’s office estimates 50 to 80 people per week are dying of overdoses.
Nick Wells
Shoes are hung on the Burrard Bridge in remembrance of victims of illicit drug overdose deaths on International Overdose Awareness Day, in Vancouver, on Monday, August 31, 2020. With overdose deaths rising across Canada, advocates for drug users are calling for the implementation of a national safe supply program as part of an effort to save lives. Failing to do so, they say, will lead to more deaths from overdoses across the country. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck December 17, 2020 - 1:00 AM
VANCOUVER - With overdose deaths rising across Canada, advocates for drug users are calling for the implementation of a national safe supply program as part of an effort to save lives.
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Failing to do so, they say, will lead to more deaths from overdoses across the country.
A public health emergency was declared in 2016, a year that saw 991 deaths. More than 1,500 people have died in British Columbia from illicit drug overdoses in 2020.
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Ontario s chief coroner s office estimates 50 to 80 people per week are dying of overdoses.
British Columbia s government created a safe supply program in March, allowing doctors and nurses to prescribe pharmaceutical alternatives to illicit drugs.
Karen Ward, a drug policy and poverty reduction consultant with the City of Vancouver, said the concept of the program needs to be expanded across the country.