Access to a legal supply of drugs is “the most important thing we can do” to combat the overdose crisis, says VCH’s medical director.
Article content
The overdose crisis has killed 1,200 more BC residents than COVID-19 in the past two years, and replacing toxic street drugs with a regulated legal supply is “the most important thing we can do,” according to the chief medical officer. in Vancouver. Coastal health.
Commercial
This ad has not been uploaded yet, but your article continues below.
Article content
in a presentation to Vancouver city council On Thursday morning, Dr. Patrica Daly, said that the overdose crisis killed 3,000 people in British Columbia between January 2020 and July 2021, compared to 1,800 who died from COVID-19 in the same period.
During that time, an average of 164 people died each month from a drug overdose in BC.
“A non-medical model is where we think we need to go,” Daly said of opening access to opioids, “to provide an alternative to tainted drugs so that we can reduce the risk of death.”
Overdose deaths rose during the pandemic as public health orders to limit the spread of COVID-19 led more people to use drugs alone and without the support of overdose prevention sites.
Daly said that during the pandemic, visits to overdose prevention sites dropped to about 2,000 per week, far less than the 6,000 weekly visits they would normally support.
Commercial
This ad has not been uploaded yet, but your article continues below.
Article content
Currently, the only legal supply of opioids is from the Crosstown Clinic operated by Providence Health Care, although the SAFER program recently received $ 5 million in federal funding to also provide prescription access to fentanyl and opioid alternatives.
However, Daly called the current prescription-based supply inadequate, something he said he hears repeatedly from doctors and nurse practitioners.
“We cannot prescribe our way out of the overdose crisis,” he said.
Daly emphasized the value of “compassion clubs,” where people with substance use disorders can get a clean supply of heroin or other opioids without a prescription. The model would be similar to those that provide medical marijuana. TO recent report BC’s Center for Disease Control suggested such clubs could save lives and disrupt drug proceeds from organized crime.
Commercial
This ad has not been uploaded yet, but your article continues below.
Article content
Vancouver City Council has already backed Compassion Clubs in their bid to supply safer drugs, in a motion that passed with unanimous support earlier this month.
“I’m a huge supporter of the compassion club model,” Daly said. “We need to dramatically expand those options.”
Vancouver Police Deputy Chief Fiona Wilson told the council that while the force has had a long-standing policy of addressing addiction as a health problem, rather than a criminal problem, the VPD could not support the purchase. organized crime drug, terrorism. and other criminal networks. That refers to the unauthorized purchases of the “dark web” drug sympathy club as they fight for access to an official supply.
However, he said the VPD supported the Providence Crosstown Clinic, as the narcotics are obtained through government sources.
According to Daly, the safe supply is fundamental because many people who die are not habitual users or they do not use other drugs, reason why the more traditional treatments for the use of opioids “are not effective”.
Daly said researchers have found that in Vancouver alone “many, many thousands of people are at risk of death and the number has increased significantly since the beginning of the pandemic.”
Reference-vancouversun.com