B.C. opioid crisis: 1 in 5 people know someone who has died from drug use, poll says

One in five British Columbians personally know someone who has died from using opioids, according to a new poll.

On top of this shocking figure, the survey, which was conducted by Research Co., reports that more than half of British Columbians think that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the federal government have done a “bad” or “very bad” job in coming up with solutions to deal with B.C.’s opioid crisis.

It’s not just the federal government under fire, as the poll indicates some locals believe provincial and municipal leaders should be doing more as well.

Mario Canseco, the president of Research Co., says the crisis can’t be ignored as people in the province continue to lose their lives to opioids.

“We can not look at the opioid epidemic as something that is affecting other people in other all walks of life when you have so many who say, ‘I know somebody who has used,’ and one out of five who say, ‘I know somebody who has passed away,'” Canseco told CityNews.

“The numbers are quite surprising. To have 20 per cent of British Columbians tell us that they personally know someone who died after using prescription and non-prescription opioid drugs in their community. It’s a huge number.”

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The poll also suggests that the challenges are becoming more of a provincial-wide issue, and there have been increased numbers in the Fraser Valley as well as northern and southern B.C.

Twenty-seven per cent of those surveyed in the Fraser Valley say they know someone who has died from opioid use.

“The notion that this is a Metro Vancouver problem, which is how we used to talk about it years ago, is no longer valid — You have this now affecting people everywhere,” he said.

The survey also identified that the majority of locals are also in support of changes in their communities.

“More than two thirds of British Columbians support three ideas to address the use of prescription and non-prescription opioid drugs in their community: creating more spaces for drug rehabilitation (81%, -9), launching more education and awareness campaigns about drug use (76%, -14) and reducing the prescription of opioids by medical professionals (69%, -9),” a news release reads.

The poll was released less than a month following a report from the BC Coroners Services that showed 206 people in the province died of “unregulated drugs” in April, while more than 12,000 people have died since the public-health emergency was declared in 2016.

With files from Charlie Carey