The unprecedented number of overdose deaths has Canada's big city mayors and the Vancouver Police Department calling for immediate action on the opioid crisis.
Led by Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson, mayors of 14 big cities want a pan-Canadian strategy to combat overdose deaths.
In a report by its Opioid Task Force released Thursday morning, there are nine recommendations, including setting targets for reducing the number of deaths, and guidance from Ottawa.
They're also calling for an urgent expansion of treatment options, such as medically supervised substitution therapy and supervised injection sites.
Also on their wish list is standardized data collection, because not all provinces report or track overdose deaths.
"They don't know how many overdoses there are, how many people are dying," said Gregor Robertson. "And that's data that we collect and publish here in Vancouver and B.C., but many other parts of Canada are not putting that data out in public."
Vancouver collects weekly data on overdoses. Last year alone, 916 British Columbians died from drug overdoses, and 216 of them were in Vancouver.
"The human cost to this crisis is immense," the report reads, adding that non-profit housing workers in Vancouver are reviving tenants sometimes multiple times per day.
"So many people are dealing with the trauma of repeated deaths of family, friends and neighbours -- it can't go on."
The mayors made mention of new federal restrictions on importing pill presses, but they're also calling for expanded law enforcement when it comes to producing and importing non-prescription opioids such as fentanyl.
"There's no question this is a national emergency," Robertson told reporters.
Meanwhile, Vancouver police are also calling for help to battle the ongoing opioid issue, saying there isn't enough organized treatment systems in place for first responders to send addicts to treatment immediately when it's needed.
Its review released Wednesday, "The Opioid Crisis: The Need for Treatment on Demand," says the lack of treatment options is contributing to a wide range of health and community problems that extend beyond just drug overdoses.
It is recommending a province-wide tracking system that would provide an easy way of knowing what wait lists there are to help patients with treatment.
The report says the fact the VPD has to source treatment from outside Metro Vancouver is indicative of "a fractured and under-resourced health care system."
