VICTORIA, B.C. – Today’s BC Coroners Service report revealed that in February 2022, 174 people in B.C. died from suspected illicit drug poisoning. Sonia Furstenau, Leader of the B.C. Greens and MLA for Cowichan Valley, has issued the following statement:
"Each month, we see the relentless toll of the poisoned illicit drug supply. Over six people died a day in February 2022 - a number that remains unchanged from February 2021.
“The all-party Select Standing Committee on Health is tasked with examining the crisis and making recommendations to the Legislature. It is critical that the work this committee does is public facing, transparent, and urgently focused on concrete solutions to address the preventable deaths that are happening every day in our province.
“This includes providing guidance for implementing the recommendations from the BC Coroners Death Review Panel, which called on the BC NDP government to create a provincial framework for safe supply distribution, including safe supply without a prescription. It also includes pursuing decriminalization within B.C. if federal support is not received.
“The real measure of the government’s successful response to this crisis is a decrease in the number of people dying from drug poisonings in this province.”
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Media contact
JoJo Beattie
Press Secretary
B.C. Green Caucus
+1 250-882-6187 | [email protected]