Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH) routinely monitors and reports on the unregulated drug poisoning emergency with the goal of supporting local and provincial harm reduction activities. Overdoses are monitored at emergency departments, overdose prevention sites, and supervised consumption sites.

British Columbia (BC) has decided to not extend its 3-year drug decriminalization project, which will expire at the end of January 2026.

"This is really egregious political interference in medical decision-making. It doesn't really support recovery. It doesn't really support people getting on with their lives you know being basically chained to a pharmacy all day long."

The City of Nanaimo has received a grant from the federal government to strengthen its overdose response capabilities by purchasing equipment and new trucks for its community safety officers, but not everyone in Nanaimo agrees that the trucks are the way to address the ongoing opioid crisis.

Earlier this week, the B.C. government announced that all patients receiving a safer supply of drugs will be required to have a medical professional present when using drugs in a bid to stop drugs from being diverted to the street. I think that'll be even more challenging. So, I think it's going to reduce the number of people in this program significantly. I'm not sure it'll have much impact on the on on diverted Dilaudid.