British Columbia·NewThe day is being marked with ceremonies across B.C. on Sunday, as the province continues to lose more than 100 people each month due to unregulated drugs, amid a public health emergency declared nine years back.B.C. records fewer illicit drug deaths this year compared to same time frame in 2024, but crisis continuesCBC News · Posted: Aug 31, 2025 4:16 PM EDT | Last Updated: 13 minutes agoOutreach workers are seen marking International Overdose Awareness Day in a file photo from Aug. 31, 2022. Commemorations for 2025 are being held across the province on Sunday to mark the day, as over 100 people per month continue to die due to illicit drugs in B.C. (Ben Nelms/CBC)International Overdose Awareness Day is being marked with ceremonies across B.C. on Sunday, as the province continues to lose more than 100 people each month due to unregulated drugs amid a public health emergency stretching back nine years.The day, first commemorated in 2001, aims to break the stigma surrounding drugs and addiction while raising awareness about overdose prevention and drug policy.In B.C., where more than 16,000 people have died due to illicit drugs since a public health emergency was declared in 2016, the day is a poignant reminder of the human toll of a crisis that has become highly politicized.Guy Felicella, a former drug user who is now an outreach worker and harm reduction advocate in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, said that Sunday was a day to honour people whose deaths could have been prevented.Guy Felicella, a former drug user and current harm reduction advocate, says that politicians should work together to end the crisis. (Ben Nelms/CBC)”We have to make sure that we we stop this division that’s created by political opportunism or, you know, votes, off of the lives of people that are struggling, and start working together,” he told CBC News.”This isn’t a partisan issue,” he added. “This is bipartisan and we should all be working together significantly because if we don’t, sadly, this is just going to continue.”The toxic drug crisis, and especially harm reduction services for drug users, have become political flashpoints. Some politicians have criticized services such as safe consumption sites, saying they don’t help people recover from addiction. Instead, they have pushed for more recovery programs, even as advocates and medical professionals argue supervised consumption sites save lives.People rally at Victory Square in Vancouver on April 14, 2025, on the ninth anniversary of the toxic drug public health emergency in B.C. Over 16,000 people have died due to unregulated drugs since the emergency was declared in 2016. (Ben Nelms/CBC)Felicella said he wants to see services for drug users scaled up immediately, and said there’s still stigma standing in the way of of doing what’s necessary to save lives.”The government has made significant strides in recovery services over the last few years, which is great,” he said.”But still, with addiction being a chronic relapsing condition, and without a harm reduction safety net underneath that, we’re going to see, you know, people sadly use [drugs] alone and die.”The most recent illicit drug death numbers in B.C. show that the province is recording a slight downward trend in the number of toxic drug deaths per day.There were 147 overdose deaths in June, according to the B.C. Coroners Service, down from 185 the year before. Many advocates for people who use drugs continue to push for a regulated safe supply of illicit drugs in order to save lives.A number of drug user organizations are set to commemorate the day at Vancouver’s Oppenheimer Park on Sunday afternoon.”On Sunday we will celebrate those who have lost their lives because of the war on drugs,” said Delilah Gregg, the president of the Western Aboriginal Harm Reduction Society, in a statement.”And we will bring awareness to the bad policies being made that are killing us.”With files from Johna Baylon
International Overdose Awareness Day commemorated in B.C.
