Opinion: Why the drug supply is still killing people in B.C.

published on March 1, 2022 by Guy Felicella in Vancouver Is Awesome

Last year was the deadliest year ever for illicit drug overdoses in B.C. and, as we’ll likely soon learn when official data is released, for all of Canada. In 2021, nearly seven British Columbians died every day from using illicit drugs. In Canada, the number is almost 20 each day. More people are dying from the drug supply than ever before.

According to the Public Health Agency of Canada, 87 per cent of drug toxicity deaths involved fentanyl in 2021. In B.C., toxicology reports by the Coroners Service have found that fentanyl or its analogues have been detected in 83 per cent of all illicit drug toxicity deaths.

But we’ve known that fentanyl has taken over the drug supply since the provincial public health emergency was declared in 2016.

So why does the drug supply continue to kill people?…