Canada

Former chief coroner Lisa Lapointe recently criticized B.C.’s drug policies, saying the province’s approach to the ongoing toxic drug crisis is not evidence based.

Lapointe, who was B.C.’s longest-standing chief coroner and held the position for 13 years before retiring in 2024, was speaking as part of a new, ongoing webinar series, “Perspectives on 10 Years in Crisis,” hosted by the Canadian Drug Policy Coalition.

In April B.C. will have been under a public health emergency for a decade. During that time more than 18,800 British Columbians have lost their lives after being poisoned by unregulated drugs.

During her time in office, Lapointe called three death review panels, which brought together a wide range of experts and asked them to come up with recommendations for how to prevent future deaths.

The experts included health professionals specializing in addiction, members of different ministries, police, pharmacists, people with lived experience, WorkSafeBC, deputy ministers and more from across Canada, but with a provincial focus.

The province declined to implement most of the recommendations, and deaths continued to rise until 2023, when a record high of 2,589 British Columbians lost their lives. Deaths have been decreasing since then but still remain high. In the first 10 months of 2025, 1,538 people died due to toxic drugs, according to the most recent information available from the BC Coroners Service.

Lapointe said B.C.’s response to the ongoing crisis, which has focused on building treatment and recovery beds, is not evidence based.