Island Health has launched a campaign to prevent toxic illicit drug deaths and deconstruct the silence and shame around men using drugs. Photo by Jeriden Villegas / Unsplash
Island Health and the construction industry want to drive down the alarming number of men particularly those working in the trades and transport dying alone in their homes while using toxic street drugs.
The health authority launched a targeted eight-week awareness campaign Tuesday to prevent overdose deaths and deconstruct the silence and shame around men using drugs.
British Columbia is being ravaged by deaths from toxic illicit street drugs. There have been more than 7,000 fatal overdoses since a public health emergency was declared in April 2016. The pandemic has only compounded people s pain and isolation, and five people are now dying from toxic drugs on a daily basis.
VICTORIA People who work in the trades and construction industries on Vancouver Island will soon have more addictions supports available for them. The Vancouver Island Construction Association (VICA) and the B.C. government have launched a new program, called the Tailgate Toolkit Project, to help address addictions and the overdose crisis in the industry. Trevor Botkin started working in the trades when he was 19 years old. After 30 years of drinking and drug abuse, he hit rock bottom. Along with a work-hard attitude, can come a party-hard attitude as well, Botkin told CTV News on Wednesday. “It ended up becoming a double life. I was one person through the day and a totally different person as soon as I left the job site.