2020 - Vancouver - DTES - Abbott Street Users
Two drug users sit at the edge of a parking lot at Abbott & West Hastings Streets. The one of the left is prepping their crack pipe.
Both were oblivious to the camera.
11 JUNE, 2020 UPDATE
B.C. records highest number of fatal overdoses in a single month, with 170 deaths.
Overdoses claimed more lives in May than COVID-19 has claimed all year in the province.
Rhianna Schmunk · CBC News · Posted: Jun 11, 2020
The BC Coroners Service said 170 people died of an illicit drug overdose in May, the highest total ever recorded for a single month in provincial history.
It's also more people than have died from COVID-19 in B.C. all year.
More than 82 per cent of overdose deaths in May involved fentanyl.
A statement from the coroners service said 70 per cent of drug overdose deaths this year were men, with 85 per cent of fatalities happening inside a home.
The provincial government declared a public health emergency on April 14, 2016, as overdose deaths began to spike. Since then, more than 5,000 people have died.
B.C. was starting to see a drop in deaths by the end of 2019, only to see a surge once the COVID-19 pandemic began.
Measures to prevent the spread of the coronavirus created fears that the illegal drug supply would become even more toxic, with regular supply chains cut off. Limited access to supervised consumption sites, overdose prevention sites or drug-checking services also created a danger
Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry, who has also been leading B.C.'s pandemic response, has called for the decriminalization of the possession of illegal drugs in the province for years. She has repeated her recommendation this year.
The province said in 2019 it would not follow Henry's recommendation, as decriminalization fell under federal jurisdiction.