Panel recommends increased access to safer supply as toxic drug deaths rose on the Island

A panel of experts from BC Coroners Service is calling on the province to make urgent changes to regulated drug services, including allowing those without a prescription to access safer supply. Currently, safer supply initiatives are only available to those with a diagnosed opioid-use disorder who have access to the health-care system.

This recommendation comes with the release of toxic drug death numbers from September, with BC seeing 175 deaths—a slight decrease from the previous month’s 178 and a 10% decrease compared with September 2022.

Meanwhile, on the Island, numbers grew in September with 34 toxic drug deaths, up from 26 in August. Greater Victoria had 15—more than double August’s number of six. In total, 342 Islanders have died of toxic drugs in 2023.

‍ The panel’s report states that as many as 225K people in BC may currently be “at risk of death or serious injury through accessing unregulated drugs via the illicit market.”

The rate of toxic drug deaths in BC has doubled since the emergency was first declared, though the report says these deaths have been “largely preventable”

One of the biggest factors in these deaths is the unpredictability of the unregulated drug supply, where concentrations and ingredients are unknown. The panel suggests that by opening up access to a regulated supply—particularly in rural areas where drug testing facilities are less common—there will be fewer drug poisonings.

The panel acknowledges that a non-prescription safer supply won’t eliminate toxic drug deaths entirely, but likely would play a part in decreasing them. However, increased harm reduction education and improved social supports are also needed for a more holistic prevention, the panel said.

“The immediate priority for action must be on elements of that system that can be rolled out quickly in order to save lives now,” said Michael Egilson, panel chair. “As the primary cause of the current crisis is the unregulated toxic drug supply, our urgent attention must be on creating access to alternatives to the unregulated drug supply for people who use drugs.”

The panel recommends that people with current or past experience with illicit drug use should be involved in the planning and implementation of interventions because they have direct knowledge of the rapidly changing unregulated market.

It also recommends Indigenous people and leaders should have more involvement in creating culturally specific interventions and supports, recognizing that each nation has its own views and practices on harm reduction and healing.

Indigenous People are disproportionately affected by the crisis, with First Nations people representing 16.4% of all toxic drug deaths, despite only representing 3.3% of BC’s population. First Nations people were also dying at a rate of 5.9 times that of other BC residents, according to the First Nations Health Authority.

As BC tightens laws around public use of illicit drugs—with Victoria council considering expanding these restrictions further—experts fear the consequences of pushing people who use drugs into the shadows, as roughly 80% of toxic drug deaths occur indoors.