Team of coroners seek clues to illicit drug deaths in B.C.

A team of coroners has begun investigating every illicit drug death in the province for clues to reducing the rising toll.

The overdose death investigation team, announced last month, started its work on Nov. 14, according to British Columbia Chief Coroner Lisa Lapointe.

"What we've done is put together a team of community coroners who will investigate each death according to an enhanced drug investigation protocol," Lapointe told On the Island host Gregor Craigie.

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Every case of a death that is confirmed as an illicit drug overdose at the provincial toxicology lab in the Lower Mainland will be transferred to the investigation team.

"The team is going to be asking a number of questions, including 'has this person had a previous overdose and if so, when and where?'" Lapointe said.

'Have they accessed treatment?'

"Have they accessed treatment, if so when and where? Were they trying to access treatment and it wasn't available? What was their medical history, what were their prescribed medications? Do they have any mental health history? What was their housing environment?"

By consistently asking these questions in every death, Lapointe said they hope to learnif there are any trends or patterns that can help health authorities reduce overdoses.

Lapointe said it is not a focus of the investigation to identify the sources of the drugs.

However, she said friends and family often share more details in informal conversations with the coroner at the scene of a death.

Not assigning blame

"They may be fearful that they're going to be in trouble or their loved one may be in trouble if they speak to police," she said.

"The coroners always say our investigation is to determine the facts, it's not about fault or blame," she said."So they will sometimes say, 'you know he did use regularly or she did use regularly,' or 'this was a rare event.'"

While the coroners' investigation team examines all drug overdose deaths in the province, one person will be the focus of the coroner's inquest starting Jan. 16.

Brandon Jansen, who was 22, died from an overdose at a Powell River addictions treatment facility March 7, 2016.

"The goal of both of these is exactly the same," Lapointe said. "To see what meaningful efforts can be made to stop these deaths."

Lapointeestimated it could take six months for the drug investigation team to report its findings, and that report will be made public.

The investigation team isbe funded as part of the $10 million announced by Premier Christy Clark in Octoberto support efforts to combat the growing number of illicit drug deaths.