Responding to the toxic drug poisoning crisis: Lunch 'n' Learn with Kora DeBeck

Since the declaration of a public health emergency of drug poisoning deaths in 2016 which was exacerbated by the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, public policymakers in British Columbia have struggled to implement effective responses. Seven years into this health catastrophe, death rates continue at unprecedented levels.

Drawing on over a decade of past research and current research-in-progress, Dr. Kora DeBeck will discuss key public policy lessons from her program of research that can inform responses to the toxic drug poisoning crisis.

Based on an open prospective cohort of more than 1,200 street-involved young people who use drugs (age 14-25) in Vancouver (the At-Risk Youth Study ARYS), Kora’s research brings attention to the relevance of adverse childhood events, colonization and intergenerational trauma, economic insecurity and drug criminalization in shaping substance use risks and harms. Implications for current substance use related policy approaches including expansion of addiction treatment (including involuntary treatment), decriminalization of drug possession, and safe supply interventions will be discussed as will the critical importance of including people with lived and living experience in research and policy development.