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MARCH 4, 2016
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THE BULLETIN PROUDLY SERVING KIMBERLEY AND AREA SINCE 1932 | Vol. 84, Issue XX | www.dailybulletin.ca
Overdose deaths on the rise BARRY COULTER
An increase in the number of overdose deaths is accompanying an increase in availability and type of illicit drugs in southeast B.C. According to Interior Health and ANKORS (Aids Network Outreach & Support Society) recent BC Coroner statistics show there has been a gradual increase in opioid related overdose deaths over the last 24 months across B.C., including communities within Interior Health. In addition, community agencies continue to receive reports about individuals experiencing fatal and non-fatal overdoses. Dr. Trevor Corneil, Medical Health Officer for Interior Health said that with a general increase in the number of overdose deaths, related to illicit drugs, more than 80 per cent of them have an opioid involved or detected post mortem. The majority of overdose symptoms are being reported after using opioid drugs such as OxyContin and heroin. “The availability of drugs on the illicit market has been increasing.,” Dr. Corneil said in an interview with the Townsman. “The number of options and types of drugs within that market have been increasing, and we don’t have a lot of control over that.” Dr. Corneil said it is important to know there is not one particular
group being affected. We have those people with significant mental health issues and significant addiction problems who are dying, but we also have recreational users. People don’t realize that there are recreational injection drug users. Those people are at risk as well.” Every year, at least since 2008, has shown a gradual but steady increase in the number of overdose deaths. “In Interior Health in 2008, there 20 overdose deaths related to illicit drugs, and in 2015 there were 16,” Dr. Corneil said. “So every year it was more than the year before — basically a straight line heading up. “Into this year, we already have some preliminary numbers from January — they’re preliminary because the data is fluid in the sense that coroners are constantly adjusting or changing decisions that are made around the final cause of death. But the preliminary number for January is 15 overdose deaths for the region. It’s a trend, unless the February total was nine. I wouldn’t call it a spike yet, until we have a couple more months of data.” Information coming forward shows there is not one specific “bad batch” of drugs. The majority of overdose symptoms are being reported after using opioid drugs such as OxyContin and heroin.
See OVERDOSE, Page 4
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BARRY COULTER PHOTO
THE SITUATION AT THE TRANSLOCATION: An immobilized deer is tended to Tuesday, March 1, in a vacant field near downtown Cranbrook. Members of the East Kootenay Urban Deer Translocation project are attaching data collection devices (an ear tag and radio collar), and monitoring the deer’s vital signs before shipping her out of town along with others in her herd.
A day of translocation BARRY COULTER
U
npleasant temperatures, stiff winds and snow would blow into Cranbrook later, but the morning of March 1 was as balmy a late winter day as you could hope for. In a vacant grassy lot near downtown Cranbrook, bounded by a fence on two sides, the street on another and Joseph Creek on the fourth, a herd of six deer laze about, munching on fresh hay. Another deer lies a short distance away, immobilized by the fence, while a half dozen humans cluster around it.
It’s Day 2 of the East Kootenay Urban Deer Translocation in Cranbrook, a trial project that has already taken place in Invermere and Kimberley. Six deer were removed from Cranbrook the day before, and the project is hoping for a similar number today. Twenty deer is the total number allowed by the permit. The immobilized deer on the ground has been knocked out by a dart fired from a dart gun. A couple of minutes after being hit, the deer gets drowsy, lies down and nods off while the rest of the herd continues to browse nonchalantly.
Members of the translocation team — biologists, veterinarians and volunteers — attach a radio collar to the recumbent ungulate, tag its ear and keep a close watch on its vital signs. Other members of the team stand in a semi-circular perimeter of some 25 metres — “border collies,” as one member puts it — to encourage the rest of the herd to stay put. But the herd remains complacent. The process of preparing the deer takes about five minutes, At one point, a neighbour wanders from the other side of the fence, and attempts to en-
gage in conversation, but he is shushed. Tranquility is key, the goal is to minimize stress on the animals, asleep or awake. The operation proceeds in silence. With the data collection devices attached, the team carefully enfolds the deer in a blanket and then carry the animal hammock style to the livestock trailer parked by the street, taking care to keep its head elevated and airway open. The rest of the herd watches idly as the team slips by with their bundle.
See Page 5