B.C.鈥檚 addictions minister has pledged to continue escalating the fight against a drug overdose crisis that has touched the life of a cabinet colleague.
Judy Darcy made the comments Monday following the 鈥渉eart-breaking鈥� death of 23-year-old Daniel Sealey, the son of Agriculture Minister Lana Popham鈥檚 fianc茅, Rob Sealey.
An obituary in the Times Colonist said he died Nov. 9 from an accidental overdose before getting a chance to fulfil his dream of becoming a physics teacher.
鈥淭hose who were lucky enough to know him will remember the funny, caring, smart, talented and special person that he was but may not know about the struggles he faced over the past few years with mental health and addiction,鈥� the obituary said.
The family has launched a fundraising effort on Daniel Sealey鈥檚 Facebook page to raise money for others who are struggling. The campaign has already surpassed its goal of $2,000, with just over $9,000 raised as of Monday evening.
Darcy told reporters at the B.C. legislature that the provincial government will keep battling 鈥渦ntil we turn a corner鈥� on the overdose epidemic.
鈥淲e are renewing our efforts, we are escalating our response to the overdose crisis every month, every week, every single day,鈥� she said.
鈥淓very single week we are adding new programs in health authorities, in community clinics. We are extending the reach of those programs. We are being proactive with outreach so if someone is at risk of overdose or has overdosed, we鈥檙e working to try and connect them with treatment as soon as possible.鈥�
Darcy noted that the number of people in treatment has increased. 鈥淏ut we鈥檙e talking about a poisoned drug supply,鈥� she said.
The B.C. Coroners Service reports that 1,143 people died from suspected drug overdoses in the first nine months of this year.
The service says fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opioid, is largely responsible for the increase in overdose deaths in recent years. Fentanyl was detected 鈥� either alone or in combination with other drugs 鈥� in about 84 per cent of the overdose deaths in 2017 and this year, the service says.
Darcy added that the government is closely examining recent recommendations from Jennifer Charlesworth, the province鈥檚 representative for children and youth, who last week released a report urging more harm-reduction services for youth.
Of the 1,452 people who died of illicit-drug overdoses last year in B.C., 24 were between 10 and 18 years old, double the number of youth who died the previous year.
Charlesworth called for a comprehensive system that offers services such as education to prevent youth from taking drugs in the first place, information on safer substance use, development of safe-consumption sites for youth and a one-stop-shop for information on publicly funded services.
