overdose crisis

Saada Mohammed, a harm reduction worker with Lookout Health and Housing Society, at the new mobile overdose-prevention service in Abbotsford. (Photo: Fraser Health)

New mobile service in Abbotsford monitors drug use to prevent overdoses and death

Customized van on site six hours a day in area of Lonzo Road and Sumas Way

 

Tools of the trade: Crushed painkiller pills with open bottle, aluminum foil, spoon, lighter and syringe. ADOBE STOCK IMAGE

SCARED STRAIGHT: Overdose episode turns B.C. man’s life around

‘Usually, you just go to sleep… wake up later and you’re fine. But this night I wasn’t.’

 

Naloxone. (Phil McLachlan - Black Press Media)

Number of overdose calls in Abbotsford jumped 46% as toxic drug deaths continue to rise

Abbotsford among cities with highest increases in calls for overdoses, say BC paramedics

 

Oona Krieg, chief operating officer of Brave Technology Co-op, poses for a photograph in Vancouver on Thursday, Jan. 6, 2022. Almost three dozen people survived overdoses because of a Canada-wide phone line that connects callers who use drugs with emergency support if there is a suspected overdose. Looking back on a year in service, data from the National Overdose Response Service, or NORS, shows all 33 potentially life-threatening events were successfully responded to. Followup calls confirmed all overdoses were reversed. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

Connection during isolation: Data shows national drug overdose hotline saves lives

The national line is one of many solutions to try to curb drug overdoses

Oona Krieg, chief operating officer of Brave Technology Co-op, poses for a photograph in Vancouver on Thursday, Jan. 6, 2022. Almost three dozen people survived overdoses because of a Canada-wide phone line that connects callers who use drugs with emergency support if there is a suspected overdose. Looking back on a year in service, data from the National Overdose Response Service, or NORS, shows all 33 potentially life-threatening events were successfully responded to. Followup calls confirmed all overdoses were reversed. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
A woman walks past a person using a glass pipe to smoke drugs in the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver, on International Overdose Awareness Day on Tuesday, August 31, 2021. Researchers in British Columbia say the expansion of overdose prevention sites in Vancouver led to immediate behaviour changes among some drug users as they entered addiction treatment, decreased the number of times they injected substances in public and shared syringes. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

UBC study says more overdose prevention sites could mean fewer overdose deaths

Researchers says existing sites having positive influence on drug users’ behaviour

A woman walks past a person using a glass pipe to smoke drugs in the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver, on International Overdose Awareness Day on Tuesday, August 31, 2021. Researchers in British Columbia say the expansion of overdose prevention sites in Vancouver led to immediate behaviour changes among some drug users as they entered addiction treatment, decreased the number of times they injected substances in public and shared syringes. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
The Yukon provincial flag flies on a flag pole in Ottawa, Monday July 6, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

Yukon’s illicit overdose death toll now highest in Canada: coroner

Opioid fatalities now represent over 20 per cent of all deaths investigated by Yukon’s coroner

The Yukon provincial flag flies on a flag pole in Ottawa, Monday July 6, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld
Abbotsford and Mission are experiencing an increase in overdoses linked to a dark-purple substance being sold as opioids. (Black Press file photo)

Dark-purple substance leads to overdoses in Abbotsford and Mission

Fraser Health issues overdose advisory for product sold as opioids

Abbotsford and Mission are experiencing an increase in overdoses linked to a dark-purple substance being sold as opioids. (Black Press file photo)
Fiona Doerksen of Chilliwack performed CPR on a man suffering an overdose in Abbotsford on Oct. 8. She is now urging others to carry naloxone kits, which reverse the effects of an overdose.

Chilliwack teen promotes Narcan kits after seeing near-fatal overdose in Abbotsford

Fiona Doerksen performed CPR outside dollar store on Oct. 8

Fiona Doerksen of Chilliwack performed CPR on a man suffering an overdose in Abbotsford on Oct. 8. She is now urging others to carry naloxone kits, which reverse the effects of an overdose.
Kathleen McKay learns how to administer naloxone at an event organized by Abbotsford Drug War Survivors on Aug. 31, 2021 to mark International Overdose Awareness Day. (Jessica Peters/ Abbotsford News)

Abbotsford Drug War Survivors gather to remember people who died from opioid overdose

Group says government has to take action and involve drug users in finding solutions

Kathleen McKay learns how to administer naloxone at an event organized by Abbotsford Drug War Survivors on Aug. 31, 2021 to mark International Overdose Awareness Day. (Jessica Peters/ Abbotsford News)
An event in Mission today (Aug. 31, 2021) will offer Naloxone training, as part of International Overdose Awareness Day. (Jenna Hauck/The Progress file photo)

Overdose awareness events in Abbotsford and Mission offer remembrance ceremonies

Naloxone training, resources, community walks and more offered to the public

An event in Mission today (Aug. 31, 2021) will offer Naloxone training, as part of International Overdose Awareness Day. (Jenna Hauck/The Progress file photo)
Paramedics work to revive someone from an apparent drug overdose on Yale Road near the Chilliwack Law Courts in 2017. (Paul Henderson/ Chilliwack Progress File)

RCMP and hospital staff warn of bad batch of illicit drugs on Chilliwack streets

CGH sees ‘significant increase’ in serious overdoses on what is known as ‘Welfare Wednesday’

Paramedics work to revive someone from an apparent drug overdose on Yale Road near the Chilliwack Law Courts in 2017. (Paul Henderson/ Chilliwack Progress File)
Depressed woman in a train

Overdose Prevention Guide shares vital resources close to home

Black Press Media and community partners shine light on opioid epidemic and local response

  • Aug 23, 2021
Depressed woman in a train
Demonstrators at the legislature April 14 called on the province to decriminalize drug possession and provide widespread access to regulated safe supply across B.C. (Jake Romphf/News Staff)

Groups offer more support for Canadian families of drug users who have fatally overdosed

The pandemic has disrupted the usual flow of illicit drugs and more toxic fentanyl-laced substances took their place

Demonstrators at the legislature April 14 called on the province to decriminalize drug possession and provide widespread access to regulated safe supply across B.C. (Jake Romphf/News Staff)
Vancouver Police Const. Deepak Sood is under review by the Independent Investigations Office of B.C. after making comments to a harm reduction advocate Sunday, April 11. (Screen grab)

VIDEO: Vancouver officer convicted of uttering threats under watchdog review again

Const. Deepak Sood was recorded Sunday saying ‘I’ll smack you’ and ‘go back to selling drugs’ to a harm reduction advocate

Vancouver Police Const. Deepak Sood is under review by the Independent Investigations Office of B.C. after making comments to a harm reduction advocate Sunday, April 11. (Screen grab)
FILE – People hold signs during a memorial march to remember victims of overdose deaths in Vancouver on Saturday, August 15, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

B.C. to request federal exemption for simple drug possession

Announcement comes on 5-year anniversary of B.C.’s first public health emergency

FILE – People hold signs during a memorial march to remember victims of overdose deaths in Vancouver on Saturday, August 15, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
A woman holds up a sign bearing a photograph of Morgan Goodridge during a memorial march to remember victims of overdose deaths in Vancouver on Saturday, August 15, 2020. The B.C. Coroners Service reported a record number of 175 overdose deaths related to illicit drugs in June. Approximately 5,000 people have died due to illicit-drug overdoses since a public health emergency was declared in 2016. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

Former health officials, advocates reflect on anniversary of B.C.’s overdose emergency

The year of the pandemic saw record-high overdose deaths

A woman holds up a sign bearing a photograph of Morgan Goodridge during a memorial march to remember victims of overdose deaths in Vancouver on Saturday, August 15, 2020. The B.C. Coroners Service reported a record number of 175 overdose deaths related to illicit drugs in June. Approximately 5,000 people have died due to illicit-drug overdoses since a public health emergency was declared in 2016. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
Supplies like clean needles are available at the Overdose Prevention Society’s safe-injection site. (The Washington Post John Lehmann)

With 1,716 deaths, 2020 deadliest year of overdose crisis in B.C. history

Pandemic exacerbated ongoing dire state of opioid crisis in B.C.

Supplies like clean needles are available at the Overdose Prevention Society’s safe-injection site. (The Washington Post John Lehmann)
Iliajah Pidskalny has been riding from Saskatchewan to Vancouver to raise awareness and funds for change in drug policies and mental health help. Having passed through Hope this week, He is pictured here outside of Agassiz on Wednesday and expects to complete his journey to Vancouver on Friday. (Contributed Photo/Iliajah Pidskalny)

Stop the Harm: Saskatchewan cyclist riding for a cause passes through Fraser Valley

Iliajah Pidskalny rides to raise awareness, funds for Canadian drug policy change

Iliajah Pidskalny has been riding from Saskatchewan to Vancouver to raise awareness and funds for change in drug policies and mental health help. Having passed through Hope this week, He is pictured here outside of Agassiz on Wednesday and expects to complete his journey to Vancouver on Friday. (Contributed Photo/Iliajah Pidskalny)
Needles are seen on the ground in Oppenheimer park in Vancouver’s downtown eastside on March 17, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward

Federal government provides $15 million for safer drug pilot programs in B.C.

Some addiction doctors have criticized the lack of safer drugs for those experiencing entrenched addiction

Needles are seen on the ground in Oppenheimer park in Vancouver’s downtown eastside on March 17, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, left, and Vancouver Mayor Kennedy Stewart share a laugh while speaking to the media before sitting down for a meeting at City Hall, in Vancouver, on Friday August 30, 2019. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck)

Vancouver mayor, Health Canada to formally discuss drug decriminalization

Kennedy Stewart says he’s encouraged by the federal health minister’s commitment to work with the city

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, left, and Vancouver Mayor Kennedy Stewart share a laugh while speaking to the media before sitting down for a meeting at City Hall, in Vancouver, on Friday August 30, 2019. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck)