Drug Crisis Basics
This area of Vancouver is most heavily affected by the drug crisis.
What is the Downtown Eastside?
The goal of decriminalization was to reduce stigma and encourage this.
What is seeking medical help?
These everyday stores sell paraphernalia that can enable drug use.
What are corner stores?
SRO stands for this type of housing.
What is Single Room Occupancy?
The crisis is now often described as a
What is a toxic drug supply crisis?
By April 2024, the government reversed course and did this in public spaces.
What is re-criminalized drug use?
Much of the black-market drug trade is controlled by these groups.
What are local gangs?
These housing units are often criticized for being unsanitary and unsafe.
What are SRO buildings?
These drugs are often secretly contaminated with fentanyl or synthetics.
What are cocaine, methamphetamine, or counterfeit opioids?
Each year, governments spend hundreds of millions on this type of response.
What are emergency response, healthcare, policing, and short-term housing?
In the early 2000s, doctors were trained to prescribe this type of drug heavily.
What are opioids?
Many of these people live in SROs, worsening drug exposure.
What are drug dealers?
In January 2023, BC did this to small amounts of hard drugs.
What is decriminalized them?
These facilities focus on keeping users alive but not necessarily helping them quit.
What are safe injection sites?
In Vancouver, drugs can even be purchased from one of these.
What is a vending machine?
This factor limits how much new housing can be built in Vancouver.
What is limited developable land?
One year later, this tragic statistic shocked the province.
What is record-high overdose deaths / about 7 deaths per day?
The central question raised by public spending is whether we are acting reactively or this way.
What is strategically?
This economic concept explains why drugs continue to flood the city.
What is supply and demand?
Population growth from 2 million to 2.6 million made this problem much worse.
What is the housing shortage / high housing prices?