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Amid Spike in Opioid Overdoses, Momentum for Reform Wavers

Overdose deaths are surging during the pandemic, but proposals to prevent fatalities through supervised drug use are facing new obstacles. 

Advocates rally in Philadelphia to support the opening of a safe injection site, which would have been the first legally sanctioned center in the U.S.

Advocates rally in Philadelphia to support the opening of a safe injection site, which would have been the first legally sanctioned center in the U.S.

Photographer: Cory Clark/NurPhoto via Getty Images

In early August, the British Columbia government said it would invest C$10.5 million ($8 million) to expand treatment services to people struggling with addiction. The province had seen a significant decline in overdose deaths in 2019 after increasing investments in opioid treatment programs, but toxic synthetic drugs and the precarity caused by the coronavirus have undercut that progress: In June, 175 people died of overdoses in the Canadian province, the highest monthly total ever recorded and a marked increase over June 2019’s total of 76.

One of the services supported by British Columbia’s investment is the expansion of centers for safe drug injection, where health professionals supervise drug use to prevent overdoses and other health risks, and connect individuals to health resources.