Pubdate: Sun, 01 Oct 2017
Source: Province, The (CN BC)
Copyright: 2017 Postmedia Network Inc.
Contact:  http://www.theprovince.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/476
Author: Gemma Karstens-Smith
Page: 14

PROVINCE ADDS $31 MILLION TO THE OPIOID FIGHT

People on the front lines of British Columbia's opioid overdose crisis
are applauding the government's announcement of more funding in an
attempt to stem the death toll.

Premier John Horgan announced Friday the province will spend more than
$31 million over the next three years to increase access to treatment
programs, offer more free kits of the overdose-reversing drug
naloxone, help front-line workers and empower communities to keep
people safe.

Speaking to a crowd of politicians at the Union of B.C. Municipalities
Convention, Horgan noted 876 people died in the province between
January and July of this year.

"These are our sons and our daughters, our brothers and our sisters,
our mothers and our fathers. And if today is an average day, four more
people will die. And that's just not acceptable to me and I know it's
not acceptable to you," Horgan said.

The programs will be funded with $322 million allocated to combat the
crisis in the government's recent budget update.

Part of the money will go to rapid-access treatment for people seeking
help. New addiction clinics will be opened and existing clinics will
expand their hours in Vancouver, Burnaby, Chilliwack, Abbotsford,
Mission and Langley.

"If someone reaches out for help, we should be there to help them,"
Horgan said.

Dr. Evan Wood, director of the B.C. Centre on Substance Use, said
expanding access to treatment is key to addressing the crisis. He
wants to see a scenario where people get help when they ask for it.

"The key will really be if somebody shows up in an emergency room,
this is a health condition like any other and people are able to get
care," he said in an interview.

Traditionally, people who come to an emergency room for conditions
such as a heart attack get great care, but those who arrive suffering
from opioid withdrawal don't get the help they need, he said.

Providing long-term care will also be critical because addiction is a
chronic disease, Wood said.

B.C. will also create a community crisis innovation fund "to support
nimble, innovative, community-based actions with an immediate impact
on the ground," the province said in a release.

Community initiatives have already been "hugely helpful" in keeping
people safe during the crisis, said Capt. Jonathan Gormick, spokesman
for Vancouver Fire and Rescue Services.

Groups on Vancouver's Downtown Eastside have saved countless lives and
lessened the load on emergency services by handing out naloxone and
creating pop-up safe consumption sites, he said.

"The more money that's available for people to come up with innovative
programs that suit the needs of their specific community, the better.

And that will only serve to lessen the strain on emergency
services."

Aiyanas Ormond with the Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users said the
funding for community groups is welcome, but there are concerns about
the province spending more on enforcing drug laws.

An additional $31 million has been set aside over three years to
support public safety and cut off supplies of fentanyl, which the B.C.
Coroners Service has said was detected in more than 80 per cent of
illicit drug deaths this year.

More police officers will be hired and an anti-trafficking team will
be created, Horgan said.

"We're going to do everything we can to get fentanyl out of our
streets while we treat the people who are afflicted by it," he said.

Ormond said the Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users is "dead set"
against funding for the overdose crisis being spent on policing.

"We know from our experience here on the ground that the drug war and
the way police treat people who use drugs in our neighbourhood just
makes people more vulnerable to overdose."

The group would rather see money for housing, Ormond said.
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