An empty coffin is carried during a march organized by the Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users to mark International Overdose Awareness Day, in Vancouver, on Thursday, August 31, 2023. A death review panel from the British Columbia Coroners Service is recommending that community groups be allowed to hand out drugs without a prescription in an attempt to stop toxic drugs from killing more people. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
VICTORIA – A death review panel from the British Columbia Coroners Service recommends community groups be allowed to hand out drugs without a prescription in an attempt to stop toxic drugs from killing more people.
The panel’s report coincided with the monthly overdose death toll of 175 people in September, which the coroners service says is a 10 per cent drop from the same month a year ago, but still equal to 5.8 deaths a day across B.C.
The report says an estimated 225,000 people in B.C. use unregulated substances but less than 5,000 people a month have prescriptions to receive safer supply drugs.
Michael Egilson, the chair of the Coroners Service death panel review, says in a statement that the report’s recommendations reflect the sense of urgency in the province to prevent more overdose deaths.
The panel says the fastest way to reduce deaths is to cut dependence on the unregulated toxic drug supply.
Its report says the non-medical approach would complement the existing medical model and would be more nimble to the unique needs of the people in communities that are rural and remote, or that lack the infrastructure needed by medical clinics.
About 14,000 people have died since April 2016 when B.C. declared a public health emergency for the overdose crisis as the powerful the opioid fentanyl became more common on the streets.
Health Canada granted B.C. an exemption under the Controlled Drugs Act last January to allow people in B.C. to possess small amounts of hard drugs in an effort to reduce the stigma associated with drug use and prevent deaths.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 1, 2023.
