Drug use has always been part of our society, but the growing death toll related to substance abuse these days is truly alarming.
There have been at least 16 deaths in the Cowichan Valley due to drug overdoses since 2012, according to health authorities, and that’s just a drop in the bucket if you add in the numbers in the larger cities in B.C.
The situation has gotten so bad that the province declared an overdose emergency last year, which allows health authorities special powers to try and deal with the seemingly intractable issue.
Apparently, most of the problems are related to the increased use of fentanyl, which is typically mixed with more common street drugs like cocaine and heroin, across B.C.
Fentanyl is a powerful synthetic opioid that is similar to morphine, but can be up to 100 times more potent and have devastating results on drug users.
I’ve often wondered what motivates people to take drugs, or anything else for that matter, that can potentially kill you within minutes.
It’s been my experience that most people like to drink alcohol and take recreational drugs simply to relax and enjoy the company of those they are with.
(Of course, that doesn’t say much for the company they keep when they have to be blotto to have fun with them.)
Last Christmas, I talked to Duncan’s Aidan Hughes-Toal, a recovered addict turned addictions counsellor who explained to me in no uncertain terms the facts around addicts and their addictions.
Hughes-Toal said he was aware of the dangers of fentanyl, but he, and many of his drug-addicted colleagues, couldn’t stop using it, regardless of the dangers.
“Your body and mind become very dependent on it very quickly,” he said.
“Add in the low self-esteem, the shame and the guilt, the feeling that you’re not good enough for your family, and these drugs become a way to escape your life.”
After that conversation, I realized that these people who many look down their nose on need help, not condemnation.
After all, this marginalized segment of the population are someone’s children, or brothers and sisters and deserve a chance to get their lives back on track again.
Island Health plans to establish a temporary overdose prevention site, which I assume is similar to a safe-injection site, in the Cowichan Valley sometime this summer.
Under the drug emergency that was called last year, Island Health has the authority to set them up anywhere they feel they are needed, regardless of the views of local governments and the public.
There are currently six of the sites on the Island.
Island Health is holding its cards close to its chest so far as to where they plan to set up the site in the Valley.
But the fears and anxieties from local people of the possibility of having it established close to their homes is already filtering into the newsroom.
These sites are intended to work with the drug users in an an attempt to keep them from overdosing, and also to try to wean them from the drugs and turn their lives around.
I’ve never lived near one of these sites, so I don’t know whether people’s fears and concerns are unfounded or not.
But I do know that they’re operating in other Island locations already and I haven’t heard any complaints from their neighbours to date.
I hope people give the site in the Valley a chance to succeed before they condemn it outright.
The problem has gotten much too serious and every effort to try and deal with it must be explored.
robert.barron@cowichanvalleycitizen.com