Vancouver Island and Oceanside Drug Deaths Summary, 2025
This is the updated data for Vancouver Island and Oceanside on the impact of the toxic drug poisoning crisis.
Film Screenings on the Mid-Island
On behalf of the VIU Harm Reduction Alliance, we invite you to join us in two upcoming events at Vancouver Island University on Tuesday, March 24th and Tuesday, April 14th, 2026. Tuesday, March 24th, 2026: Film Screening of “No Fixed Address: White Cart Memorial” at the Malaspina Theatre, VIU Nanaimo Campus. Doors open at 2:30pm, Q&A with the […]
April 14th – In Sadness and Rage
10 years, over 18,000 avoidable deaths. Join us Tuesday April 14th from 1:00 – 3:30 at the BC Legislature Grounds, in Victoria BC. Rally to Rage, Grieve and Remember. Taking the Mic will be Leslie McBain from Moms Stop The Harm, Lisa Lapointe, Former BC Chief Coroner, Ann Livingston from […]
‘Mass Death on This Scale Is Incomprehensible’
Overdose deaths are trending down, but BC is still in the thick of a crisis. Here’s what the data tells us. by Michelle Gamage and The Tyee – click for the source article, and to support Canadian journalism [Editor’s note: This article talks about overdose fatalities, including of youths, and […]
Toxic soup: Today’s illicit drug supply is ever-changing — and deadly
Ten years after a declaration of a state of emergency around the toxic drug crisis, it continues to kill more people every month than died in an entire year when heroin dominated the market. by Jody Paterson @ Times Colonist – read the source article here PreviousNext Katy Booth with medetomidine […]
There is no evidence to support ‘homeless bus’ rumours
By Terry Ferrell – read the source editorial in the Cowichan Valley Citizen Rumours have persisted for years that unhoused people are being bused to the Comox Valley, en masse. The same unsubstantiated rumours have been circulating for just as long in virtually every community in B.C. It’s time to […]
Documents Show BC Knew Safe-Supply Diversion Was Negligible
by Dustin Godfrey at Filter Magazine – read the source article here February 18, 2026 Even as British Columbia’s Ministry of Health was caving to right-wing panic over “diversion” of safe supply drugs, its public safety ministry internally acknowledged the negligible role of diverted opioids in the unregulated drug supply. In […]
Decriminalization worked. B.C. killed it anyway
The province’s drug decriminalization experiment lowered arrests and reduced harm—but it failed a different political test by Desmond Cole, From The Breach – read the source article here If the measure of success is whether life became safer and less punitive for people who use drugs, British Columbia’s decriminalization pilot was […]
Not Free Drugs: The Truth About B.C.’s Substance Use Medications
What B.C. Actually Provides for People Living With Substance Use Disorders and why. by RON MERK – Read the source article at his Learning Moments Substack – FEB 02, 2026 Public conversations about substance use in British Columbia are often charged with emotion, misunderstanding, and frustration. One of the most […]
Discontinued Canadian Safe Supply Program Was Working, Study Shows
by Sidney Sauer, from Filter Mag – read the source article here Facing right-wing backlash, harm reduction initiativesaround Canada have steadily been rolled back. Safer opioid supply (SOS) programs—which provide pharmaceutical-grade opioids in lieu of unpredictable street supply—have been one major target, including through legislation restrictingpharmacies’ “high potency” opioid distribution and ending take-home programs. Despite waning political support, […]