By Spencer Sterritt

More than 50 fatally overdosed in Nanaimo in 2017 as death toll hits staggering new high

Jan 31, 2018 | 12:02 PM

NANAIMO — The runaway train of fatal overdoses in Nanaimo doesn’t show any signs of stopping soon. 

The latest release from the BC Coroners Service on Wednesday, Jan. 31, showed 51 people passed away from overdosing on illicit drugs in Nanaimo in 2017.

The final 2017 statistics greatly exceeded the previous high of 29 fatalities in 2016. 

Across the province, 1,422 people lost their lives in what chief coroner Lisa LaPointe called “the most tragic year ever.” The number represents a 43 per cent increase compared to overdose related deaths in 2016.

Island Health’s chief medical health officer Dr. Richard Stanwick said several specific trends jumped out at him, such as the predominant number of men passing away and how often a fatal overdose happened inside a private residence.

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“We’re now up to 90 per cent of these deaths occurring in these settings, as opposed to a street setting, something we thought where most deaths would be occurring going forward.”

Pulling back the curtain on the issue and finding the humanity behind the numbers is going to be a key step forward, he said. 

“Every (number) was a person. We talk about 1,422 but those are 1,422 moms, dads, daughters, brothers, sisters. I think sometimes dealing with them in such a magnitude, you lose sight of the fact that each one of those is an individual story in itself. 

“As soon as we stop caring, then we’re getting into real trouble in terms of making a difference.” 

For the future, Stanwick said health authorities need to tackle the stigma of addictions and take more pro-active, behavioural approaches to make sure less people are succumbing to the desire of drugs in the first place.

“How do we create a population of individuals who are more resistant to becoming dependent?” he asked. “What about the people who seek these drugs out because of emotional issues, such as the child who was sexually or physically abused or the child who was bullied?”

He touted Nanaimo’s overdose prevention site as a strong aspect of care for Nanaimo’s drug-taking community. As of Jan. 14, the site on Wesley St. was visited roughly 8,500 times since it opened in February 2017. Total visits to the Nanaimo site account for approximately 10 per cent of all overdose prevention site visits in the province, Stanwick said. 

There’s still been no update on whether the current site will be replaced by a supervised consumption site, which offers more help for the users and services for the community. 

Stanwick said with the work being done by the Ministry of Mental Health and Addictions, it’s hoped new options could be available for Nanaimo. 

“It does appear that some new strategies are on the horizon and may serve to perhaps loosen some of the log jams in terms of moving forward with either overdose prevention sites or supervised consumption sites.”

B.C.’s new chief medical health officer Dr. Patricia Daly on Wednesday told the press she was cautiously hopeful about a significant decrease in fatalities at the end of 2017.

“Some of the preliminary numbers I’ve seen from January for the island, unfortunately would suggest that maybe that was a bit optimistic,” Stanwick said of Daly’s claim. 

It’s possible the total number of fatalities in 2017 will go up. 

Stanwick said the 1,422 figure should be considered the “minimum number of deaths we would have seen for 2017,” since many deaths are still being investigated by the Coroner.

spencer@nanaimonewsnow.com

On Twitter: @spencer_sterrit