NHA continues to see highest rate of toxic drug deaths: System is failing says MLA
Illicit drug toxicity continues to be the leading cause of death among British Columbians aged 10 to 59, with Northern Health having the dubious distinction of achieving the highest death rate in the province, at 59.8 deaths per 100,000 population. All health authorities in the province recorded higher death rates than ever before between January and July 2023.
BC’s chief coroner, Lisa Lapointe said in a statement about the findings: “We must urge decision-makers to do more to stop these preventable deaths from occurring. The critical risks and losses of life resulting from this public health emergency deserve and urgent response. We must not accept the continued loss of six lives each and every day.”
Peace River North MLA Dan Davies, takes it one step further, calling the situation a failure on the part of the provincial government, and urging them to do things differently.
Harm reduction, which seems to be the central focus of the government’s plan to deal with the toxic drug crisis, is but a small piece of the puzzle, Davies said.
“You can’t have just that, because you end up keeping people in a cycle of addiction. That’s all we’re doing,” he said. “There’s just not enough treatment, detox and recovery available in British Columbia.”
Davies has a niece who is an addict, and says her story can apply to so many people. His niece went to mental health and addictions, wanting to get clean, and was told that there wasn’t anything available for at least a week, at which time they would have to put her on bus and send her to Prince George. In Prince George there are 14 detoxification beds for adults, and one for youth.
“I’m sorry, that’s not good enough. That’s a failure of the system. And a failure of the system that’s been getting worse as the epidemic gets worse.”
We need to look at doing things differently, and he said BC United has a plan which is based on treatment and recovery, because that what people need.
“Look at Alberta – treatment and recovery is free. Every single person, if they walk into their doctor, to mental health and addictions, and say I want to get clean, I need help, are immediately dealt with in Alberta. This has been going on for about 18 months, and they’re now seeing a decline in overdose deaths,” Davies said.
Marshall Smith, a former policial aide in Gordon Campbell’s BC Liberal government, and recovered addict, had an idea for the model Alberta is using, Davies said. He offered this solution to John Horgan, who turned it down. Jason Kenney in Alberta did not. Smith’s solution is a recovery-oriented system, with an emphasis on abstinence-based treatment.
“We’re seeing undeniable results in both provinces as a result,” said Davies. “Alberta’s death rate is falling, and BC’s is rising.”
Davies says we need a detoxification and treatment centre here in Fort St. John. We have a day treatment program, but he believes that all it does is “continue the cycle we’re stuck in now.”
“We need to be doing things differently. We need to turn the system on it’s head. Hitting rock bottom and keep digging is what the system is doing now.”
He said that BC United has asked the provicial government repeatedly what it’s doing to resolve the crisis.
“We questioned Adrian Dix about this constantly in the spring session – about drug overdoses, mental health and addictions, the issues that we’re having, and the healthcare crisis that BC is in. He just kept saying, ‘we’re investing more’. To what end? Don’t just keep throwing money at a sinking ship,” Davies said. “You need to do a fundamental change.”