Opioid crisis still raging

PRINCE GEORGE – It is a crisis and has been for years. That’s according to BC’s Chief Coroner, Lisa LaPointe. Her agency released a report painting a picture of the opioid crisis in 2021. It indicates that the 1,782 suspected illicit drug toxicity deaths between January and October of this year are the highest ever recorded in a calendar year. None of this comes as a surprise to the head of POUNDS, whose mandate it is to prevent overdose.

But one good thing in the report is that the number of overdose deaths due to a poisoned drug supply in Prince George has dropped from 58 last year to 41 this year. And Jordan Harris attributes that to safe supply.

“I think the fact we’ve seen fewer deaths here in Prince George this year than we did last year, in 2020, I think we owe that to a community of practice that’s held by some really brave prescribers in our community. Some really brave care providers that are stepping up to do the work to create safe supply and paths to other maintenance therapies for individuals who are living with additions.”