toxic drugs

Crime, health care, housing, illicit drugs and the economy will dominate the B.C. election campaign that kicks off on Sat.

A First Nation on the northwest coast of Vancouver Island has declared a state of emergency over what its leadership describes as the "unrelating impact of drugs and alcohol" on its members, particularly children and youth.

Indigenous people, especially women, are dying from toxic drugs at disproportionately high rates in British Columbia as the overdose crisis continues "unabated," nearly seven years after the province first declared a public health emergency, said the top doctor for the First Nations Health Authority.

The toxic drug crisis in British Columbia was a key factor in pushing the number of deaths of homeless people up by 75 per cent in 2021 compared with the year before, the BC Coroners Service says.

British Columbia has lost more than 10,000 lives to illicit drugs since the province declared a public health emergency in April 2016, chief coroner Lisa Lapointe says.

A former federal health minister who championed decriminalization in Canada says a three-year model approved for British Columbia may not provide ample evidence to ensure the success of a policy that should have been implemented across the country.

Illicit toxic drugs in British Columbia cause more deaths than all other natural causes combined, the province’s chief coroner said Wednesday as she called for an end to old prevention measures that have been "an abject and very costly failure."

Columnist Seth Klein believes he has had a sneak peek at the B.C. government's Feb. 8 throne speech. Nudge, nudge. Wink, wink.

Stacity Bailie had been awaiting approval to enter a drug rehabilitation program when she died of an overdose on Oct. 22.