Canada's Pacific province of British Columbia was already battling an opioid epidemic when the new coronavirus hit, compounding the threat to drug users, many of whom are homeless and particularly vulnerable during the pandemic.
VANCOUVER - Canada’s Pacific province of British Columbia was already battling an opioid epidemic when the new coronavirus hit, compounding the threat to drug users, many of whom are homeless and particularly vulnerable during the pandemic.
B.C. is the first province to apply those guidelines to support people who use street drugs. Healthcare providers are ramping up the supply of prescription drug replacements for those who live with addictions to drugs like heroin, and even dispensing some of them via unique vending machines. By providing a safe supply of legal drug alternatives, the province hopes to lower a sudden spike in drug overdose deaths that coincided with the coronavirus outbreak in Vancouver.
Cheyenne Johnson, co-interim executive director at the B.C. Centre on Substance Use, said the region’s illicit drug supply was already tainted. The coronavirus closure of the border with the United States has exacerbated the problem by stymying illegal drug supply routes, prompting dealers to increasingly make or cut their wares with dangerous ingredients.
Days after the new guidelines were rolled out, Rupinder Brar, a physician at Vancouver’s Portland Hotel Society, said she has provided prescriptions for free drug replacements, which can be dispensed by the week.
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