Efforts to reduce the toll of overdose deaths in our province have failed miserably.
Last year, there were 2,293 drug overdose deaths in B.C. On a per capita basis, that’s by far the worst fatality rate in the country.
More concerning still, the number of fatalities continues to grow. That 2022 death rate was 29 per cent higher than 2020, and it now appears 2023 will exceed last year’s total.
We can see the effect of these fatality rates in our demography. The number of deaths in B.C. rose by eight per cent in 2021.
That’s a huge increase. The nationwide figure was just one per cent.
And this in turn led to a decrease in life expectancy. Both male and female expectancy rates lost a full year in B.C., something we usually associate with a pandemic.
Yet that is indeed what we’re facing. Among people aged 10 to 59, illicit drugs are now the leading cause of death in our province, accounting for more fatalities than disease, accidents, homicides, and suicides combined.
Meanwhile drug deaths in our province are responsible for the second highest number of years of life lost, just below cancer.
These are shocking figures, all the more so since six years have passed since a provincial state of emergency was declared in the face of the overdose crisis.
Lack of funding doesn’t appear to be the driving force.
In the current year’s budget, the provincial government set aside $1 billion for new treatment programs, and preventive measures are in full swing.
The Ministry of Mental Health and Addictions estimates that between 2015 and 2022, some 8,220 lives were saved by the distribution of Naloxone kits, among other efforts. Staff believe the growing numbers of overdose deaths are due in part to the increasing toxicity of illicit drugs.
Perhaps. But there are other causes to consider.
First, it is unclear whether anything resembling a national strategy exists for attacking the importation of dangerous drugs.
We contacted the national headquarters of the RCMP, and asked what resources they had deployed. They told us they had no country-wide figures, and to contact the B.C. regional office.
There we were told that “We simply don’t capture (overall) data”. Instead drug interdiction is delegated to the RCMP’s 144 regional detachments, and from there down to the individual officer.
We were advised that there is no “task force” to deal with this crisis, and that we should forward queries about overdose deaths to the B.C. Coroner’s Service.
This is a scandalous state of affairs. If these remarks are accurate, our national law enforcement agency lacks a unified strategy for combating the overdose crisis.
Second, the penalties for dealing in illicit drugs bear no relation to the damage done.
The minimum mandatory sentence for trafficking or importing a dangerous drug varies from one year to two, even when aggravating factors like violence or use of a firearm are present.
Considering the huge profits to be made, penalties like these represent little more than the cost of doing business.
Part of the problem is that there is no one central law enforcement agency charged with curtailing the drug supply. Instead responsibility is spread across a multitude of federal and provincial authorities, none of which has the whole picture in mind.
While a strategy based largely on treatment and prevention is essential, it’s clear that this is not by itself sufficient.
Overdose fatalities are not the result of a naturally occurring ailment, like heart disease or cancer. They are literally bought and paid for as part of a money-making scheme.
That must be kept in mind as we combat this deadly trade.
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