Pubdate: Wed, 21 Dec 2016
Source: Daily Courier, The (CN BC)
Copyright: 2016 The Okanagan Valley Group of Newspapers
Contact:  http://www.kelownadailycourier.ca
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/531
Author: Andrea Peacock
Page: A1

IH OFFICIAL CALLS DEATHS FROM DRUGS 'BLACK HOLE'

Twice as many drug overdose deaths in Kelowna so far this year as all
of last year, with no end to crisis in sight

Drug overdose deaths are increasing rapidly with no end in sight, says
Interior Health medical director Dr. Trevor Corneil.

In Kelowna, there were 40 overdose deaths from Jan. 1 to Nov. 30,
compared to 19 overdose deaths all of last year, according to
statistics released by the BC Coroners Service.

Across the Okanagan, there were 65 overdose deaths in the same period
this year, at a rate of 19.4 deaths per 100,000 people, compared to 42
overdose deaths all of last year, at a rate of 11.6 deaths per 100,000
people.

"Having been in the field of addictions for 20 years, I am very
concerned about this," said Corneil. "But I am not surprised, based on
the unstable nature of introducing a drug such as fentanyl into the
illicit black market."

In Kelowna, 24 of the drug overdose deaths between Jan. 1 and Oct. 31
were related to fentanyl, compared to six fentanyl-detected deaths the
year before.

"We don't know where the bottom of the barrel is," said Corneil. "It
feels like a black hole right now."

Drug overdose prevention sites, such as the one that opened last week
in downtown Kelowna, is part of IH's response to the overdose crisis.

"Right now it's about saving lives," said Corneil. "Every overdose
reversed is an indication of success. Yes, we're saving more people,
but the number of people who are being affected by this keeps growing.
I don't know where the end is."

Kelowna's first overdose prevention site opened Friday inside the
former Kelowna Health Centre on Ellis Street.

An IH nurse and a Living Positive Resource Centre staff member will be
on site, along with a security guard, from Tuesday to Saturday.

"The idea is that if people are going to use substances, they're
invited in and they're able to use in a space where they are not
alone," said Clare MacDonald, executive director with the Living
Positive Resource Centre.

This differs from a safe injection site in that drug users are not
being supervised.

"No one is watching over them or sitting next to them as they inject,
but there are people who are trained in overdose response nearby, and
if an overdose does occur, those people are nearby to supply naloxone
and breathing support to attempt to reverse the overdose until
emergency services arrive," said MacDonald. "We're not able to
supervise the injection because we don't have the federal exemptions
(from the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act) in place to do that."

The overdose prevention site downtown is set up inside a large room
with three booths for people to use drugs, while staff sit in another
area of the room, said MacDonald.

"If somebody does use alone and overdoses, there is a very real chance
they will not come out of that overdose and they will die," said
MacDonald. "We are trying to do what we can to respond and keep people
alive."

A second overdose prevention site was initially planned inside the
Living Positive Resource Centre on Asher Road in Rutland. But, one day
before it was scheduled to open, it was cancelled.

"Earlier in the week, I spoke with the landlord and let her know what
we were planning, and she was a little hesitant, but she agreed to go
ahead," said MacDonald.

"But on Thursday around midday, she called me and said she had changed
her mind, that we would not be allowed to open the site at 168 Asher
Rd., because at least one tenant had called her and said if the site
goes in they will give their notice and be leaving."

MacDonald was frustrated, because she sees this as a vital service for
the community.

"This is a health service that has been approved at the level of the
Ministry of Health, and this is seen to be a life-saving service that
we are providing in a crisis situation," she said. "We have seen
within our own client base a number of overdoses this year, and that
number continues to climb throughout the province. There is no end in
sight."
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MAP posted-by: Matt