There is a glimmer of hope in the most recent suspected drug overdose deaths in B.C.
According to Dr. Patricia Daly, the executive director and clinical lead for the B.C. Overdose Emergency Response Centre says although the deaths increased to more than 1,400 in 2017 the rate of increase has slowed.
Daly says, because most of the people still overdosing are doing so at home, alone, it’s important to remove the stigma associated with illicit drug use because it’s the reason why people use drugs alone…..
Of the 198 people who died using illicit drugs on Vancouver Island in 2017, 79 of them were in the region the Coroners Service calls the Central Island.
That includes the area north of Victoria, up through the Cowichan Valley, Nanaimo, Parksville and over to Port Alberni and Ucluelet.
36 of the overdose deaths were outside of Nanaimo.
