Drug overdoses in public bathrooms are common: new tools could prevent harm and improve response

published on October 11, 2022 by Trevor Goodyear and Marilou Gagnon in The Conversation

The drug poisoning crisis in Canada is at its worst in British Columbia, with over 10,000 lives lost since 2016. A key setting for overdoses in B.C. is bathrooms, though this information has not always been readily available.

Every month in B.C., more than 50 overdoses happen in bathrooms. This statistic is based on 911 calls where overdose was specifically documented to have occurred in bathrooms. As such, it is likely an undercount of all drug poisonings that take place in bathrooms across the province.

More must be done to prevent and improve how we respond to overdoses in these settings.

There are many reasons for substance use and overdose in bathrooms

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