Committee makes 37 recommendations for addressing toxic drug deaths in B.C.

The B.C. government has received a report outlining actions to address the toxic drug death crisis in the province.

The Select Standing Committee on Health issued 37 recommendations relating to the crisis in the Closing Gaps, Reducing Barriers: Expanding the Response to the Toxic Drug and Overdose Crisis report, which was released today (Nov. 1).

“We heard that some British Columbians are not able to access life-saving supports and services, either because they aren’t available in their community or because of other barriers,” Niki Sharma, committee chair, said.

“The committee’s report makes recommendations to further scale up government’s response to ensure that all British Columbians can access high-quality substance-use support and care when they need it.”

Between January 2012, when the toxic drug crisis was first deemed a public health emergency, and August 2022, more than 11,000 British Columbians died due to drugs poisonings.

The recommendations fall into 10 categories:

• Overarching Government Response
  • Scale up the continuum of care to encompass housing, employment and income, and mental health supports through defined goals and timelines with clear accountability and public reporting
  • Improve existing mechanisms to hold health authorities accountable for expanding services through specific targets and collaboration
  • Identify points to connect with high risk individuals and develop action plans to meet these people’s needs
  • Integrate people with a history of drug use into the development and implementation of new policies and programs
• Prevention and Education
  • Increase Funding for expanded public awareness and anti-stigma initiatives
  • Increase funding for an expanded and accessible continuum of housing options
  • Fund and expand trauma-informed mental health care
  • Create and implement a provincial pain strategy with evidence-based practices
• Harm Reduction
  • Create province-wide standardized harm reduction services
  • Provide take-home Naloxone kits to all individuals, especially those at higher risk
• Safer Supply
  • Engage with health practitioners to resolve barriers with prescribed safer supply options throughout B.C. while increasing education
  • Review the Prescribed Safer Supply policy to allow for a range of alternatives
  • Work with the federal government to consider alternative and scaled-up safer supply models
• Treatment and Recovery
  • Increase publicly funded, evidence-based and accredited treatment and recovery beds and outpatient services
  • Create legislation that provides a statutory framework encompassing all treatment and recovery services in B.C.
  • Create a data collection system for overseeing outcomes from treatment and recovery services
  • Fund opioid agnostic treatment options in all regions of the province
  • Reduce barriers to opioid agnostic treatment
  • Review the Mental Health Act with a new round of public input
  • Work with the federal government to ensure treatment and recovery services will not impact the immigration status or application for permanent residency of an individual
• Enforcement and Decriminalization
  • Modernize policing in B.C. and the role police play in responding to complex social and health matters and investing in health services
  • Work with the federal government and port authorities to disrupt the supply of illicit toxic drugs coming into B.C.
  • Work with the federal government and other key stakeholders to collect, measure and evaluate data on the effectiveness of decriminalization
  • Implement decriminalization and advocate for further federal funding to ensure police can refer individuals to support services
• Indigenous People
  • Fund Indigenous-led and designed culturally appropriate prevention, harm reduction, treatment and recovery, and mental health and social services and programs
  • Engage with the B.C. First Nations Justice Council to implement a strategy to reduce the number of Indigenous people who become involved with the criminal justice system
  • Fulfil recommendations from the In Plain Sight and Red Women Rising reports, the Calls for Justice from the National Inquiry on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, and the Calls to Action from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission
• Youth
  • Expand in-school prevention and education programs
  • Fund universal access to integrated mental health and substance use supports for children, youth and young adults
  • Fund resources to evaluate children for neurodiverse needs early
  • Fund a continuum of care developed specifically for youth and young adults
• Additional Measures
  • Provide multi-year funding to community groups that includes accountability measures
  • Explore alternative options to responding to mental health and substance use events
  • Increase human resource capacity to respond to the drug toxicity and overdose crises
  • Designate personnel at hospital emergency rooms to provide referrals to harm reduction or treatment and recovery services
  • Expand supports and resources for family members of drug users
  • Expand access to harm reduction services

“There is no one-size-fits-all response to this crisis,” deputy-chair and Liberal MLA Shirley Bond said. “The committee wants to see significant investments across the entire continuum of care – from prevention and education to treatment and recovery – as well as ongoing evaluation and monitoring to ensure results are achieved.”

The report noted addressing the overdose and toxic drug crises require urgency, equity, comprehensiveness, connection, coordination, standardization, accountability, and the including of people who use drugs.

It was stated that, using these key principles, the province could take action that reduce the number of people dying each day from drug use and help them find the needed supports or services.

The report noted First Nations people died at 5.4 times the rate of other B.C. residents in 2021, and First Nations women died at 9.8 times the rate of other B.C. women.

It also stated 77 per cent of people who died of toxic drugs as of May 2022 were male.

Additionally, 35 per cent of people who died were employed, with more than half of them working in trades, transportation or as equipment operators.

“The poisoned drug supply is taking the lives of our loved ones, with a disproportionate impact on Indigenous people. This is unacceptable. We must end this tragic loss of life,” Minister of Mental Health and Addictions Sheila Malcolmson said. “I am grateful to the committee for their hard work on this complex and evolving public-health emergency. Thanks also to the nearly 1,000 people, organizations and subject-matter experts who shared their advice and personal experience with the committee.”

Malcolmson added the government is working to address the toxic drug crisis through investments in treatment and overdose prevention measures, though did not state if any immediate action would be taken on the recommendations.