In order to acquire information about the Opioid crisis, we began by questioning local experts who were knowledgeable on the issue. We started by interviewing a Vancouver Paramedic that has responded to Fentanyl overdoses in the Vancouver Area, followed by a discussion with a Social Work Student/Downtown Eastside Outreach Worker.
Interview with Ole Olsen (Paramedic)
How has the fentanyl epidemic affected the work of medical/emergency responders on a daily basis?
The fentanyl crisis has affected the work of paramedics greatly. Primarily, we are busier than ever before. This means we are less able to respond to all medical emergencies. Everyone is waiting longer when they call 911. Also, there is increased stress amongst the workforce. Our critical incident stress debriefing team has been busier than ever before.
Based on your observations, what demographic seems to be most affected by the fentanyl crisis?
Certainly, the lower income street intravenous drug using (IVDU) demographic is the most affected. However, many middle/upper class recreational (non-IVDU) drug uses are affected as well.
Do the drug users that have been affected by overdoses usually know they are taking Fentanyl? Or are they consuming laced drugs without the intention of taking fentanyl?
Most of the IVD Users on the street know that they are potentially using fentanyl. However, they don’t care as they are severely addicted and will do anything to get a fix. Getting ‘down-sick’ is worse than anything for these addicts. I would guess that most of the recreational users don’t think they are using drugs laced with fentanyl (or at least hope that they are not).
Interview with Ole Olsen (Paramedic)
How has the fentanyl epidemic affected the work of medical/emergency responders on a daily basis?
The fentanyl crisis has affected the work of paramedics greatly. Primarily, we are busier than ever before. This means we are less able to respond to all medical emergencies. Everyone is waiting longer when they call 911. Also, there is increased stress amongst the workforce. Our critical incident stress debriefing team has been busier than ever before.
Based on your observations, what demographic seems to be most affected by the fentanyl crisis?
Certainly, the lower income street intravenous drug using (IVDU) demographic is the most affected. However, many middle/upper class recreational (non-IVDU) drug uses are affected as well.
Do the drug users that have been affected by overdoses usually know they are taking Fentanyl? Or are they consuming laced drugs without the intention of taking fentanyl?
Most of the IVD Users on the street know that they are potentially using fentanyl. However, they don’t care as they are severely addicted and will do anything to get a fix. Getting ‘down-sick’ is worse than anything for these addicts. I would guess that most of the recreational users don’t think they are using drugs laced with fentanyl (or at least hope that they are not).
Discussion with Robyn Putnam (UBC Social Work Student, Downtown Eastside Outreach Worker)
Fentanyl began as a medical drug only, small doses would hit the streets when occasionally people would rob pharmacies and cook down small doses.The Fentanyl crisis has been exhausting for all people that work closely with drug addicts. As of right now, overdose numbers are high and it is difficult to cope with the quantity of overdoses as resources are difficult to acquire on a large scale. The British Columbia Fentanyl crisis began January 2016 (just over a year ago) as usage and lacing began to spike. The overdoses seem to come in waves, most likely due to a “bad batch” being distributed. Fentanyl seems to have spread as it is super powerful, therefore not much is required; suppliers make more money for a smaller amount of drug distributed. Lots of recreational users have been affected as Fentanyl has been found in both stimulants and opioids such as cocaine and heroin. The evidence points to China as being the suppliers, however it is difficult to track and infiltrate as it is sent by mail in small (non suspicious) packages.
Drug use in society affects all types of people in all socioeconomic backgrounds. The stereotypical image of drug users being "homeless addicts" is false. Homeless individuals are unable to “hide” drug use, whereas wealthier people are able to cover up the reality of their drug use with the image of having a steady job, and a home.
There are 2 primary schools of thoughts when it comes to intervening with drug addicts:
1. Harm reduction 2. Abstinence
Narcan/naloxone (reversal drug [injected] in case of overdose) has established a false sense of security for drug users as many people are now trained on how to inject it.
The Downtown Eastside community is very aware of the crisis as there have been many deaths, but also many initiatives to prevent overdoses. The Fentanyl crisis has highlighted the Downtown Eastside population.
Once we acquired expert information, we went further in our retrieval of data in order to fully understand the extent of the issue. The BC Coroners Report provided us with data which supported the stories of both Ole and Robyn.
It was evident that illicit drugs overdose deaths were spiking dramatically within the span of one year.
It was evident that illicit drugs overdose deaths were spiking dramatically within the span of one year.
We noticed an obvious increase in illicit drug related deaths, however we continued to investigate British Columbia data in order to narrow down the results to Fentanyl specific data, as it is the current epidemic sweeping our Province. The following graph concisely contrasts the overall drug overdose data to Fentanyl specific overdose numbers. We can deduce that before 2011, Fentanyl was not largely available, as a differentiation between Fentanyl and other illicit drugs only begins from the year 2011 onwards. The alarming spike in Fentanyl related overdose deaths takes the lives of 700 British Columbians in 2016.
In terms of illicit drugs in general, in 2016, there was a 79.2% increase over the number of deaths the previous year (2015).
(In order to illustrate the severity of this crisis)
The "Deadly Night"
On Thursday December the 16th of last year, 13 people in British Columbia died of overdose related to fentanyl– nine of the deaths were in Vancouver. The "Deadly Night" follows a ‘record’ November in which 128 people, more than 4 people a day, died of overdose in B.C.
The next question we wished to answer was, who is primarily affected? What is the demographic targeted?
Individuals aged 30-39 and 40-49 have accounted for the largest percentage of illicit drug overdose deaths in 2016. About 73% of illicit drug overdose deaths were among individuals between the ages of 19-49 years. Males accounted for 80.7% of apparent illicit drug overdose deaths in 2016. As we could assume due to population density, the most overdoses in BC occurred in the townships of Vancouver, Surrey, and Victoria.
[View our infographic below for key points we acquired on the BC Fentanyl Epidemic]
Individuals aged 30-39 and 40-49 have accounted for the largest percentage of illicit drug overdose deaths in 2016. About 73% of illicit drug overdose deaths were among individuals between the ages of 19-49 years. Males accounted for 80.7% of apparent illicit drug overdose deaths in 2016. As we could assume due to population density, the most overdoses in BC occurred in the townships of Vancouver, Surrey, and Victoria.
[View our infographic below for key points we acquired on the BC Fentanyl Epidemic]