Where’s the plan?
That was the dominant question asked Thursday as B.C.’s chief coroner Lisa Lapointe announced 1,716 people died from toxic street drugs in 2020, marking the worst year on record for the province.
The toxic illicit drug supply has claimed more lives than motor vehicle crashes, homicides, suicides and prescription drug-related deaths combined in B.C., Lapointe said at a press conference.
Nearly 7,000 people have died since the province declared the drug overdose crisis a public emergency five years ago this April, she added.
“While many may think that deaths due to illicit drugs are confined to small areas or populations in our province, in fact, people are dying in communities across B.C., from all walks of life, and leaving behind broken-hearted family, friends and colleagues,” she said.
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DARRYL DYCK/The Globe and Mail
British Columbia is seeking approval from Ottawa to become the first province where possession of small amounts of illicit drugs is not a criminal offence.
Sheila Malcolmson, the province’s Minister of Mental Health and Addictions, inquired last week about a provincewide exemption from federal drug laws to remove criminal penalties for people possessing small amounts of drugs for personal use.
VANCOUVER British Columbia is asking for a federal exemption to decriminalize the possession of small amounts of drugs for personal use after more people died from overdoses in 2020 than any other year.
VANCOUVER — British Columbia is asking for a federal exemption to decriminalize the possession of small amounts of drugs for personal use after more people died from overdoses in 2020 than any other . . .