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.
Reference Documents
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 […]
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, […]
Any level of alcohol consumption increases risk of dementia
Any amount of alcohol consumption may increase risk of dementia, according to the most comprehensive study of alcohol consumption and dementia risk to date. from Oxford University – read the full source article here Led by the University of Oxford, Yale University, and the University of Cambridge, the research challenges […]
BC’s New Youth Substance Use Guideline: A Game-Changer for Care
From Judgment to Compassion: BC’s Ground-breaking New Approach to Youth Substance Care by Ron Merk Jun 09, 2025 – Visit his Substack here British Columbia has just released a groundbreaking new guideline that could fundamentally change how young people dealing with substance use issues receive care. The Provincial Child and […]
48 people die from toxic drug supply in Island Health, 275 in B.C. for February and March
by Laura Brougham, Chek News, May 14, 2025 – Read the Source Article – In February and March, 275 people died due to the toxic drug supply in B.C., of which 48 were in Island Health, according to the latest data from the B.C. Coroner Service. In February, 132 people […]
Substance use disorders and the Mental Health Act
General guidance for physicians on the use of the Mental Health Actwhen treating adults with substance use disorder. Click here to download.
“Grasping at straws,” experiences of Canadian parents using involuntary stabilization for a youth’s substance use
From Science Direct – International Journal of Drug Policy – by Daniel O’Brien read the full article Abstract Background In Canada, involuntary stabilization programs are used to apprehend and confine youth who use drugs for the purpose of stabilization, assessment, and discharge planning. In the Canadian province of Alberta, the […]
January Public Safety and Solicitor General Report
More than 2,500 lives lost to toxic drugs in 2023 Preliminary reporting released by the BC Coroners Service confirms that toxic, unregulated drugs claimed the lives of at least 2,511 people in British Columbia in 2023, the largest number of drug-related deaths ever reported to the agency. Click here to […]