Detox and treatment beds hard to come by as toxic drugs continue to claim lives in B.C.

At a time when toxic drugs are killing more than a dozen British Columbians every two days – making the choice to get clean can be a life-or-death decision.

"When somebody affected by substance use wants help, it needs to be immediate. Depending on what is happening in their chaotic life, they need the help when they're asking for it,” said Correne Antrobus who has a close loved one battling addiction.

“We want to grab that moment. And it hasn't changed. My journey's been going on for 13 years."

Antrobus volunteers with Moms Stop the Harm, an advocacy group working to reduce stigma around drug use and raise awareness of the need for better supports.

The organization supports the province’s move to work with the federal government to decriminalize small amounts of certain illicit drugs in the province.

As part of a three-year pilot project, possession of 2.5 grams or less of drugs such as heroin, cocaine and MDMA for personal use will not result in criminal charges.

Instead, the province says police will offer drug users a resource card directing them to available services such as detox and treatment.

The problem is, even B.C.’s Mental Health and Addictions Minister doesn’t know how long the wait times are for those services.

“Access to waitlists is something that we, at some point, need to be in a better position to respond to,” Jennifer Whiteside said. “We need to do some groundwork with health authorities and with our partners in order to have the information that we need in order to be able to provide that information.”

She said there 3,260 publicly funded treatment beds in the province.

But since 2017, the government has added just 320 new spaces. In that same time period, thousands have died. Since a public health emergency was declared in April of 2016, 11,171 lives have been lost, according to an update from the province's chief coroner Tuesday.

"B.C. is interested in having decriminalization succeed and part of that may be having to develop more of the health-care system so that people can get the help that they need, when they need it,” said Dr. Mark Lysyshyn, deputy medical officer of health at Vancouver Coastal Health.

Lysyshyn also said the conversation shouldn’t only be focused on the number of inpatient beds because many people overcoming opioid addiction do better living at home and accessing community-based treatments.

However, he did acknowledge that outpatient programs can be less effective for people without stable housing which is the case for a lot of people who use illicit substances.

Antrobus says the toxic drug supply on the streets has turned even casual use into a game of Russian roulette, causing her stress and worry about her loved one.

"So far we've been just so fortunate that she hasn't died. But so many of her friends are gone,” she said. “Even from her high school, seven from her grad class. That's a lot."

Now that drugs have been decriminalized to reduce the stigma, she’d like to see more money poured into services like detox and treatment which can save lives if they can be accessed by those who want and need them.