A new report from the BC Coroners Service makes three main recommendations to reduce illicit drug overdose deaths in the province.
Each recommendation comes with a slate of priority actions developed over the review’s span from August 2017 to July of 2021.
Titled “BC Coroners Service Death Review Panel: A Review of Illicit Drug Toxicity Deaths,” the report looked in to more than 6,000 overdose deaths.
Drug overdose deaths are already the leading cause of unnatural death in BC, but the report found that both the number and rate of deaths are increasing, with an average age of related deaths at just 42.
It also found that drug supplies are becoming more and more toxic, and that the pandemic only inflated that fact.
Recommendations included in the report include: ensuring a safer drug supply, developing a 30/60/90 day illicit drug toxicity action plan, and establishing an evidence-based continuum of care.
You can view the full report at this link.
Last year, there were 2,224 suspected illicit overdose deaths in BC, the most ever and a 26 percent raise over 2020.
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