People between age 25 and 44 who are living unhoused in Nanaimo are dying from illicit drug overdoses two and a half times more often than elsewhere on the Island.

The grim statistic arose during discussion of drug toxicity data at a City of Nanaimo governance and priorities meeting Monday, Dec. 11. Dr. Shannon Waters, medical health officer; Dr. Roger Walmsley, Island Health addiction medicine physician; Amanda Lemon, mental health and substance abuses manager of community services; and Dana Leik, director with Island Health made a series of presentations on the topic to NanaimoB次元官网网址檚 mayor and councillors.

According to Island Health, from Jan. 1 to Oct. 31, B.C. Emergency Health Services attended 964 illicit drug poisonings in Nanaimo, compared to 586 for all of 2022. NanaimoB次元官网网址檚 rate for drug overdoses now stands at just over 906 per 100,000 people, more than double Island HealthB次元官网网址檚 average of 428 per 100,000.

Drug toxicity deaths in Nanaimo have been rising in recent year. In 2019, overdoses killed 28 people, and in 2022, overdoses claimed 85 lives. As of Oct. 31 this year, 99 people had died, representing a death rate more than double that of the rest of the Island Health region.

B次元官网网址淗aving been the medical health officer for the Cowichan Valley region, when I took on being interim [medical health officer] for this area and saw this data, it affected me really deeply because itB次元官网网址檚 very different and much more extensive than the data that I present within the Cowichan Valley,B次元官网网址� Waters said.

Island Health statistics also show B.C. EHS paramedics in Nanaimo now respond on average to 89 illicit drug poisonings per month, a sharp rise from when responses averaged 52 per month at this time last year. Waters noted the response rose sharply in the spring of 2023.

The statistics are event more grim for young people.

Since 2017, paramedics attended to 2,069 illicit drug poisonings among 25-44-year-olds, 851 responses for 45-64-year-olds and 174 for people 65 and older. Men accounted for 1,236 overdoses and women for 575.

Over the past year, the rate of illicit drug toxicity deaths amongst those in the 25-44-year-old age range was 2.7 times higher in Nanaimo than the rest of Island Health, Waters said.

The frequency of people overdosing outdoors is rising, too, and accounted for 56 per cent of all calls this year, compared to 45 per cent in 2022, while the percentage of overdoses in private residences is falling, from 36 per cent of all overdoses in 2021 to 23 per cent in 2023. Overdoses continue to happen across Nanaimo, but the highest concentration is in the downtown area

Waters described the data as B次元官网网址渃omplex and devastating.B次元官网网址�

READ ALSO:

Coun. Erin Hemmens asked, while acknowledging this newest data has only recently been compiled, what Island HealthB次元官网网址檚 response will be to NanaimoB次元官网网址檚 comparatively high rate of drug-poisonings.

B次元官网网址淚B次元官网网址檓 curious about the systemic response when we see such a variability in the statistics,B次元官网网址� Hemmens said.

Leik said the overdose prevention and supervised consumption site, operated by Canadian Mental Health Association B.C. at 250 Albert St., continues to see higher volumes of users than in other areas of Island Health with overdose prevention services, and Island Health is working with CMHA to extend the facilityB次元官网网址檚 operating hours. Outreach teams have also seen increasing demand for their services.

B次元官网网址淢any folks here know that we are working with the city and B.C. Housing to identify a location for complex care housing, which would enable people to access various streams of the housing continuum, from shelter-based to supportive living into the complex care housing that is coming with 20 net new units. So, we hope that we can confirm a location for that and begin the planning,B次元官网网址� Leik said.

She and Walmsley also emphasized rising overdose deaths among unhoused people speaks to the need for housing in Nanaimo.

B次元官网网址淥ne of the other things that IB次元官网网址檓 very aware of when I work on the street is the increased amount of homelessness and I donB次元官网网址檛 think that we can B次元官网网址� dismiss the challenges that the housing crisis has put on our community,B次元官网网址� Walmsley said. B次元官网网址淚B次元官网网址檓 seeing more elderly people living in their cars. IB次元官网网址檓 seeing people who are not substance users who are faced with homelessness.B次元官网网址�

He said in those situations people sometimes turn to addictions as a B次元官网网址渨ay to survive.B次元官网网址�

B次元官网网址淢any of the people that I deal with on the street, they use drugs to stay up at night because they donB次元官网网址檛 have a warm place to go to. ThereB次元官网网址檚 not enough shelters in the city to go to to house all the people that we have,B次元官网网址� Walmsley said.

He said there are no simple solutions, but there are hopes that through addressing homelessness and improving health-care delivery B次元官网网址渨e can make a change in some of those areas down the road.B次元官网网址�

Coun. Janice Perrino said she is often asked, following the opening of the Albert Street overdose prevention site, about the increased numbers of overdose deaths.

B次元官网网址淲hat people are saying to me is, what a mistake it is that we are giving out free drugs to help keep people alive and yet more are dying, and I donB次元官网网址檛 know how to answer that questionB次元官网网址�B次元官网网址� she said. B次元官网网址淚 still canB次元官网网址檛 get my head around the fact that we have begun to give out free drugs to try to save lives and we seem to be losing even more.B次元官网网址�

Lemon explained it is the illegal toxic drug supply, which contains contaminants, that is claiming lives because those contaminants make it far more difficult to counteract their effects with drugs such as naloxone.

Walmsley cited information from the B.C. Coroners Office that there is no data suggesting safe supply is contributing to more opiate use disorder.

B次元官网网址淧rescribed safer supply has been an issue since it first came out B次元官网网址� The reality is only five per cent of the people who have opiate use disorder are receiving safe supply,B次元官网网址� he said. B次元官网网址淭hat is not alone accounting for the increased deaths that youB次元官网网址檙e seeing. ItB次元官网网址檚 not accounting for much of what youB次元官网网址檙e seeing.B次元官网网址�

The B.C. Coroners Service reported last month that there were 96 overdose deaths in Nanaimo in the first 10 months of 2023, the deadliest-ever year for drug poisonings in the city. Prior to this year, 2022 had been the deadliest year for drug overdose deaths in Nanaimo, with 78.

READ ALSO: