(Image Credit: Global BC)

By Sydney Chisholm

Overdoses

‘We have a lot of work to do to save more lives;’ Health officials lament record-breaking overdose death total

Jan 31, 2023 | 5:05 PM

KAMLOOPS – Despite the province’s efforts to fight the overdose crisis, including Tuesday’s (Jan. 31) start of a three-year pilot program to decriminalize illicit drugs, death rates have only gotten higher.

Thirteen more people died from overdoses last year in Kamloops than the year before, which previously broke the city’s record.

“I think there are a lot of individuals trying desperately to do what they can to address the current situation,” said Dr. Paxton Bach, an addiction medicine specialist during a news conference discussing the BC Coroners Report for 2022. “The reality is, every year we are back here and every year more people have died and were not seeing any change in the end product – the number of people dying.”

According to the latest information from the BC Coroners Service, the City of Kamloops saw 90 deaths caused by illicit drugs last year, regardless of the increased resources meant to address the crisis. Health officials believe more needs to be done.

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“Nothing in that report was surprising to me. It was about what we expected, which is not good,” Dr. Carol Fenton, Interior Health medical health officer, told CFJC News. “We have a lot of work to do to save more lives.”

It doesn’t help that BC’s healthcare system is already struggling and many drug users don’t have immediate access to recovery services.

“For someone looking to access a treatment system, to access a detox program – which is just the initial step – they’re looking at a two-, three-, four-week waiting period to access detox,” Bach said. “That is an eternity for someone to continue to use drugs.”

Kamloops Day One Society said it averages a waitlist of 25 people – meaning even if drug users reach out for help, they could be denied.

Dr. Bach sees patients in different stages of addiction and said the effects of toxic drugs extend past the recorded deaths.

“I hear of blackouts, of assaults, seizures, infections, non-fatal overdoses and so many more consequences that we aren’t seeing in this report today,” Bach explained.