Draining drug crisis budget

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The City of Vancouver says it will ask council to approve an additional $600,000 in spending on the opioid crisis as officials estimate more than 400 people could die of illicit drug deaths by the end of the year.

It says in a news release that the request will be made next week and the funds would be used to address five priority areas identified by first responders and the community.

Nearly half the money would be earmarked for initiatives to help urban aboriginal communities, about $129,000 would be used to identify and deal with toxic drug supplies and $116,000 would help create programs to address the stigma of poverty and drug use.

The remainder would be spent on efforts to reduce social isolation among drug users, especially men, and to expand drug interventions beyond the Downtown Eastside.

If approved, the funding would empty Vancouver's $3.5-million contingency budget for the opioid crisis approved by Mayor Gregor Robertson and council in the 2017 operating budget.

The $600,000 would be matched by just over $1 million in contributions from the health and non-profit sectors, and Robertson says the targeted, frontline investments would be a critical support for people working to save the lives of opioid overdose victims.