New data has been added to the Unregulated Drug Poisoning Emergency dashboard on the use of prescribed alternatives to the toxic supply.
Prescribed alternatives are medications that can be prescribed by physicians and nurse practitioners to patients at the highest risk of death or other harms from the unpredictable, toxic drug supply. It is one tool that can support people who use drugs to be less reliant on the toxic supply, which is contaminated with fentanyl, benzodiazepines, and other substances.
“The toxicity of the unregulated drug supply is driving the continued high levels of drug-related mortality in British Columbia,” said Dr. Alexis Crabtree, public health physician at the BC Centre for Disease Control (BCCDC). “Adding this data to the dashboard is an important way we can monitor how this intervention is being accessed by clients and health care professionals.”
A public health emergency was declared in April 2016, due to the unacceptably high number of deaths caused by drug poisoning from the unregulated supply.
To provide information on the impact of the emergency and the use of programs and services available to support people who use drugs during the emergency, data is regularly updated on the
Unregulated Drug Poisoning Emergency dashboard on the BCCDC website. It includes information about the use of naloxone programs, overdose prevention services, opioid agonist therapy (OAT), as well as information on the number of deaths reported by BC Coroners Service monthly and paramedic attended drug poisoning events.
Prescribing alternatives was first introduced in March 2020 under the Risk Mitigation Guidance to support people at risk of overdose and withdrawal during the dual public health emergencies of unregulated toxic drugs and the COVID-19 pandemic, when physical distancing and self-isolation were encouraged.
In July 2021, the Prescribed Safer Supply policy direction was introduced for prescribing pharmaceutical alternatives to the toxic drug supply beyond the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. It includes prescriptions for drugs such as hydromorphone, fentanyl, methylphenidate (Ritalin), dextroamphetamine (Dexedrine), diazepam (Valium), and others.
The data published today includes information up to the end of December 2023. It shows:
- In December 2023, 4,453 people received any type of a prescribed alternative. This is down from a peak of 5,189 in March 2023.
- Most clients receiving prescribed alternatives receive opioid prescribed alternatives. The number of people receiving stimulants and benzodiazepine is small by comparison. The number of clients receiving prescribed alternatives by drug type are:
- Opioid alternatives: 4,212
- Stimulant alternatives: 437
- Benzodiazepine alternatives: 60
- In comparison, about 24,000 people accessed opioid agonist therapy (OAT) in December 2023.
- The number of people dispensed any prescribed alternative in December 2023 varied by health authority:
- Interior: 655 clients
- Fraser: 537 clients
- Vancouver Coastal: 1,876 clients
- Island: 981 clients
- Northern: 372 clients
