Drug overdoses in Vancouver claimed the lives of 27 people in the month of May.
And at this rate, officials said, Vancouver is on pace for more than 400 overdose deaths in the city by the end of this year.
In a release, the City said that would be “more than the total number of overdose deaths in Vancouver for the previous three years combined with no end in sight.”
The 27 deaths were recorded among 667 overdose calls that were received by Vancouver Fire and Rescue Services in May.
Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson said the city is “desperate” for the new BC government to “change course and take a bold approach” to the situation.
“Four people a day are dying from overdoses in BC,” he said.”The Federal Government gave $10 million to the province in February to address the overdose crisis and we have no idea if or how that money has been spent.”
The funds, he said “need to be urgently deployed to expand treatment options like treatment-on-demand and drug substitution therapy to immediately save lives and ultimately put an end to these tragic drug overdose deaths.”
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