A toxic drug crises continues throughout our province and into Northern BC, where despite a recent dip, the overall numbers for 2024 look worse with a record 102 toxic drug related deaths recorded for the city of Prince George. Dr. Rakel Kling, a Medical Health Officer with Northern Health states that, “We are still seeing a significant number of overdoses in the North, and the North still continues to have the highest rate of overdoses in the province. Unfortunately Prince George recorded their highest number of unregulated drug deaths in the last 10 years.”
While the geographic distances between individuals and associated health services and extreme weather present specific challenges for our region, Kling emphasizes, “we know that substances are incredibly toxic and that’s contributing to significant deaths everywhere.”
Effectively contributing to death prevention though, are the presence of naloxone, overdose prevention sites, and apps that can call EMS services if a user becomes unresponsive.
Story also available on frequencynews.ca, 88.7 FM in Prince George—Lheidli T’enneh, and cfur.ca/listen-live Mon-Fri 7:30am & 5pm PST
CFUR Radio Society’s journalist, Ian Gregg is funded by the Local Journalism Initiative (LJI) through the Community Radio Fund of Canada (CRFC).