BC premier tells Ottawa action is needed to stop opioid epidemic

OTTAWA, ON. (NEWS 1130) – Premier Christy Clark is making a plea to the rest of the country for action to help stop the ongoing opioid overdose epidemic.

Clark says this problem doesn’t begin and end within our borders so she will be working with Federal Foreign Affairs Minister Stéphane Dion to deal with international partners.

“We hope to be working with Minister Dion on coming to some agreement with China, which is the major source country for fentanyl, just as the Americans have done on an agreement that will get them focused on controlling the entry of this drug to our country,” she says. “At the moment the Americans have an agreement with China. China has put a lot of focus on that. We don’t have an agreement between our two countries. I think that work has begun, but I intend to have a direct conversation with Mr. Dion about that because it needs to be a multi-pronged effort.”

Clark adds the federal government appears willing to help with the problem, but BC has always suffered from being the furthest province away from the decision making happens.

The premier insists if Ontario was facing the same kind of overdose rates, there would be over 2,000 deaths already.

Last spring, BC became the first province in the country to declare a public health emergency following a dramatic spike in overdose deaths related to the use of drugs such as fentanyl. Opioids include prescription painkillers such as oxycodone and morphine as well as illegal street drugs like heroin.

A two-day summit in Ottawa that Clark and BC Health Minister Terry Lake will attend starts Friday. It will bring together health experts from across the country to examine issues including harm reduction and how to reduce addiction rates.

Canada and the US have the highest rates of opioid use in the world, and Federal Health Minister Jane Philpott says the root causes must be examined to explain why that is the case.

The BC Coroners Service says between January and the end of October, 622 people died of an overdose, compared to 397 for the same period of 2015. October had 63 deaths, six more than September and just slightly higher than the 61 monthly average.

BC NDP says province should pass legislation on pill presses

The BC NDP is expressing frustration that pill presses, which produce the pill form of fentanyl, are still legal in BC.

The party introduced a private member’s bill earlier this year to regulate the use of the machines.

Public safety critic Mike Farnworth believes if the legislature were sitting, the bill would pass.

“Why wouldn’t you want to shut down companies who are profiting off the deaths of people?”

He says we should follow the lead of another province.

“We have the power to deal with it. Alberta has already done it. They did it earlier this year to national acclaim. There’s no reason why we can’t do it here in British Columbia.”