Caring for young people during a toxic drug crisis: Q&A with Dr. Danya Fast

published on August 22, 2025 in BC Children's Hospital Research Institute

“It’s important to discuss the toxicity of the drug supply,” says Dr. Danya Fast, an investigator at BC Children’s Hospital Research Institute. In 2007, she started her research with people as young as 13 years old who use drugs in the context of unstable housing and homelessness. A medical anthropologist by training, Dr. Fast examined their trajectories over time. When, in 2016, BC declared a public health emergency as a result of the significant increase in drug-related overdoses and deaths, there was a shift for her. She moved her research from public spaces and housing environments to places where these young people accessed detoxification, treatment, and recovery services to look into how they engage with — and disengage from — care.

Dr. Fast, who is an assistant professor in the Department of Medicine at the University of British Columbia, researches substance use and mental health and works with children, adolescents, and young adults. Last year, she published The Best Place: Addiction, Intervention, and Living and Dying Young in Vancouver, her first book. We recently met with Dr. Fast to talk about key findings from her research, the impact of the toxic drug crisis, and what families need to know…