Close X
Saturday, January 11, 2025
ADVT 
National

B.C. Wants Federal Crackdown On Fentanyl Trafficking To Fight Health Emergency

The Canadian Press, 27 Jul, 2016 11:13 AM
    VANCOUVER — British Columbia is asking the federal government to help it crack down on fentanyl overdoses that have been classified a public health emergency in the province.
     
    Premier Christy Clark wants the federal government to restrict access to devices, such as pill presses and tableting machines, and to pursue stronger penalties against people who import and traffic in fentanyl.
     
    Clark also wants Ottawa to ask the Canada Border Services Agency to search small packages for fentanyl to stop the drug coming into the country.
     
    Recent statistics from the coroner's service in B.C. show there were 371 deaths in the first six months of this year, about a 74 per cent increase compared with the same period last year.
     
     
    The service says the proportion of deaths where fentanyl was detected in toxicology tests jumped to about 60 per cent and that the drug was either used alone or in combination with other drugs.
     
    British Columbia declared a public health emergency in April when overdose deaths surged to an alarming rate in the first few months of this year.
     
    Clark says the province is also planning to improve access to treatment programs including its opioid substitution program.
     
    "Drug overdoses are absolutely senseless deaths, every one of them is a preventable tragedy that families feel in the worst possible way," she told a news conference at a hospital in Vancouver on Thursday.
     
     
    "Some have lost their lives to a tainted pill at a party, they didn't know what they were taking. Others were taken by that needless burden of addiction that they can't kick. We need to support all of them."
     
    The B.C. Centre for Disease Control also released measures it believes will help tackle the problem after a meeting between public health officials and the coroner's service.
     
    It wants to expand the availability of naloxone to reverse overdoses, expand access to opioid substitution treatments like Suboxone and methadone, and to increase checks on street drugs, among other things.

    MORE National ARTICLES

    Pokemon Go Invades Vancouver

    Pokemon Go Invades Vancouver
    Police have received reports of large groups of people seen gathering in parks and on city streets and other public areas, at all hours of the day and night.Police have received reports of large groups of people seen gathering in parks and on city streets and other public areas, at all hours of the day and night.

    Pokemon Go Invades Vancouver

    'Do The Right Thing:' Father Of Missing Calgary Girl Pleads For Her Return

    'Do The Right Thing:' Father Of Missing Calgary Girl Pleads For Her Return
    Colin Marsman says in a statement that five-year-old Taliyah Leigh Marsman is his "light" and loves her with all his heart.

    'Do The Right Thing:' Father Of Missing Calgary Girl Pleads For Her Return

    Seasonal Agricultural Workers Program celebrates 50 years

    Seasonal Agricultural Workers Program celebrates 50 years
    Program helps Ontario farmers experiencing labour shortages stay viable

    Seasonal Agricultural Workers Program celebrates 50 years

    Heavy Rainfall Soaks Saskatchewan, Prompts Local States Of Emergency

    Heavy Rainfall Soaks Saskatchewan, Prompts Local States Of Emergency
    REGINA — Four Saskatchewan communities have declared emergencies because of flooding, as a rainfall warning continues from the southwest corner of the province to the northeast.

    Heavy Rainfall Soaks Saskatchewan, Prompts Local States Of Emergency

    Banks Say Canada Post Should Not Be Allowed To Open The Teller Window

    OTTAWA — The lobby group representing Canada's big banks says Canada Post should not be allowed to expand onto its turf as a means of generating needed revenue.

    Banks Say Canada Post Should Not Be Allowed To Open The Teller Window

    Drivers, Mounties, Team Up To Help Truck Driver South Of Vancouver

    Drivers, Mounties, Team Up To Help Truck Driver South Of Vancouver
    Mounties responsible for patrolling highways south of Vancouver credit some proactive drivers and two alert RCMP officers for averting a potentially nasty crash.

    Drivers, Mounties, Team Up To Help Truck Driver South Of Vancouver