Bad heroin could be behind overdose uptick

 

Bad heroin may be making the rounds in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside as residents report an uptick in heroin overdoses. Lorraine Grieves of Vancouver Coastal Health sent a message to staff on Friday, warning of "numerous reports of heroin overdoses over the past few days." Two people overdosed inside, and one outside, of buildings run by the Port-land Hotel Society late last week, executive director Mark Townsend said. "We'll know in the next few days whether this is a real spike or an isolated thing," Townsend said on Sunday. "I'm worried it may be the beginning of something." Russell Maynard of Insite, Vancouver's supervised injection site, said overdoses have been on the rise since November 2011. The facility typically sees 20 overdoses per month; that has increased to roughly 30 in recent months, he said. Four people overdosed at Insite over the weekend, Maynard said. None were fatal. That number is typical for "cheque week," when the lowest-income demo-graphic gets a cash infusion, Maynard said. "People are able to use more and as a result, Insite, and the emergency rooms in Vancouver, see more ODs from about Wednesday to Sunday."