The BC Good Samaritan Drug Overdose Act evaluation: Lack of awareness, limited protection, "but better than nothing"?

The Good Samaritan Drug Overdose Act, enacted in 2017, provides protection at the scene of an overdose, for possession of drugs for personal use, in order to reduce concerns of police attendance and encourage people to call 9-1-1. Our study, funded by the BC Ministry of Health, is a multidisciplinary collaboration to assess the knowledge, attitudes and implementation of the Act from the perspectives of enforcement and people at risk of witnessing or experiencing an overdose, including youth and people on release from prison. We will share findings from the study to date, highlight resultant initiatives and discuss potential policy implications as BC and Canada explore decriminalization to address the unacceptable and preventable drug toxicity overdoses and deaths. Dr. Jane Buxton is a public health physician and professor in the UBC School of Population and Public Health. She is medical lead for harm reduction at BC Centre for Disease Control. She developed the Drug Overdose and Alert Partnership to identify and respond to issues related to illegal drugs. In 2012 she led the implementation of the BC Take Home Naloxone program - which has shipped one million kits to distribution sites across the province. Jane's research uses qualitative and quantitative approaches, and she is committed to including the authentic voices of the experts - people with lived and living experience - in developing policy, program planning and evaluation, and research. Jessica Xavier is the research coordinator for the Good Samaritan Drug Overdose Act evaluation at the BC Centre for Disease Control. Prior to her work at the BC Centre for Disease Control, Jessica’s research was focused on increasing accessibility to supervised consumption sites in Ontario for groups who experience barriers to access. Jessica holds a master’s in public health in Health Promotion. Her research interests include community-based research with people who use drugs and effective drug policy.

BC CDC Presenters

6/8/2021 7:00:00 PM