Back in April BC’S Chief Health Officer declared a public health emergency due to a significant number of Fentanyl overdoses in the province.
This rising trend is not only affecting larger centres like the Lower Mainland and Kamloops, but here in the Cariboo as well.
Jordan Davis is the Harm Reduction Co-Ordinator for the Boys and Girls Club of Williams Lake and working with other oganizations to get that message across to Lake City youth.
“If we don’t communicate that it’s a crisis it’s going to get worse and worse. And so in Williams Lake we are this tiny town and people think we’re safe from things. Five overdoses in the last three weeks approximately, so this is a huge thing for us. This is brand new, I mean it’s happened in the past but this is a huge surge”.
Davis says in 2015 there were approximately 400 overdose deaths in BC and this year, with the anticipation of what’s been happening, they’re looking at between 600 and 800 overdose deaths.