Trudeau meeting with first responders to talk about the opioid crisis
Posted March 3, 2017 7:07 am.
Last Updated March 3, 2017 9:32 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – On the heels of the federal government announcing millions of dollars to help fight the opioid overdose crisis in this province, the prime minister is here to learn more about it.
Justin Trudeau is sitting down with first responders and health care workers to get a first-hand idea of just how bad the ongoing epidemic is and just how hard it’s hitting the province.
In light of his visit, one local advocate is hoping the PM declares the crisis a national health emergency. It’s been nearly a year since BC declared illicit drug overdoses a public health emergency in this province.
“The hospitals are filled with people right now, the morgue is full. We can’t say enough that this is a national health crisis. He needs to call it what it is, a national health crisis,” argues Sarah Blyth, a Downtown Eastside advocate who has been on the frontlines in Canada’s poorest postal code.
She says she has watched as over 900 people have died across the province as result of fatal overdoses. Blyth is urging opioid prescriptions be made available to addicts that are using dangerous street drugs. “There hasn’t been a national health crisis like this ever, or in a very long time. We need people to prescribe opiates for folks that are using drugs from the streets that are killing them as an alternative to going to dealers, and we need that tomorrow.”
She adds doctors and other medical professionals feel it’s time for Ottawa to take a drastic step. “Mental health workers all our front line workers know this. It’ll stop crime, it’ll put a stop to overdoses in the hospitals taking up hospital beds.”
There were 116 deadly overdoses in January, which was the third highest total on record behind only the previous two months.
