overdose

Parksville saw overdose-related emergency calls increase by over 40 per cent in 2021. 

BC Place and the Vancouver Convention Centre will also glow purple to commemorate the day, the release said.

Eighty-one per cent of the deaths were male and 71 per cent were between the ages of 30 and 59, the report found.

The first phase is expected to be in place for 18–24 months as data is collected to assess the approach.

Since January, the drug toxicity crisis has claimed 851 lives, including six in the Oceanside local health area.

An average of six people died every day from illicit drug toxicity in B.C. in April, according to the BC Coroners Service report.

Orca Place staff told the city they did not believe the memorial would be therapeutic to residents.

Historical data from the BC Coroners Service shows half of the men who died from toxic drugs were employed and of those, 55 per cent worked in the trades and transport industry.

Males accounted for 80 per cent of B.C.’s illicit drug toxicity deaths and over two-thirds of overdose deaths were people 30–59, the report said.

“Through province-wide decriminalization, we can reduce the fear and shame that keep people silent about their drug use,” said Sheila Malcolmson, minister of mental health and addictions.