BURST
“In 2013, in my role as head of federal policing in British Columbia, I started to see an increase in drug-related deaths attributed to a powder form of fentanyl being delivered by mail,” says former senior Mountie Kevin deBruyckere. “On May 23, 2014, it hit home for my family. My 22-year-old son lost his life and our family became a victim of the fentanyl epidemic.”
Over the next decade, more than 16,000 people have lost their lives due to overdoses in British Columbia. Vancouver is at the centre of this epidemic.
“Unless there is a significant reframing of response to the drug crisis, we can’t beat it. It’s not a law enforcement challenge or issue only – it’s much larger than that,” says deBruyckere.
“This is a public health issue. It’s a housing issue. It’s an educational issue. It’s a prevention issue,” says deBruychkere.
The costs to take on the drug epidemic are significant. The costs of not having a coordinated long-term strategy are much larger. “People are dying, families are being destroyed, and all of society is paying a price,” says deBruyckere.
DeBruyckere joined Conversation That Matters about fentanyl and the devastating impact it is having. See the video at vancouversun.com/tag/conversations-that-matter.
Learn More about our guests career at careersthatmatter.ca
Join us Sept. 16 for Conversations Live on investing in B.C. in Partnership with First Nations.