25 years of overdose prevention: ASK Wellness reflects on Kamloops’ ongoing toxic drug crisis

“We hear about the deaths. This is the metric and it’s understandable that we are basically focusing in on that metric in terms of just the severity of the addictions crisis,” adds Hughes. “But I don’t think we can underestimate the impact of this addictions crisis on our communities, on our families.”

Much of that impact isn’t visible on the street.

Eighty-one per cent of unregulated drug deaths this year occurred indoors, with more than half (53 per cent) happening inside private residences. Only 28 per cent took place in social or supportive housing, while 18 per cent of overdoses took place outside in a car, on the street or in parks. ASK Wellness says prevention starts with knowledge – the signs of an overdose and the proper use of naloxone.

However, Hughes says the longer-term response needs to go much further.

“We have such a far way, a long way to go to come up with an integrated plan led by the province that says, ‘This is our prevention plan. This is why we have harm reduction services and why we continue them, and this is how we’re linking harm reduction to treatment,'” he adds.

For Hughes, the next step is connecting those pieces – prevention before addiction, harm reduction to lives at risk and a much clearer path into treatment and recovery.

The hope is the next 25 years aren’t measured by the lives lost, but how many are saved.

by Jeremy Russo

25 years of overdose prevention: ASK Wellness reflects on Kamloops’ ongoing toxic drug crisis

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