{"id":91305,"date":"2025-04-15T08:32:35","date_gmt":"2025-04-15T12:32:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/?p=91305"},"modified":"2025-04-15T08:32:35","modified_gmt":"2025-04-15T12:32:35","slug":"first-nations-health-authority-backs-harm-reduction-on-b-c-overdose-anniversary-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/15\/first-nations-health-authority-backs-harm-reduction-on-b-c-overdose-anniversary-2\/","title":{"rendered":"First Nations Health Authority backs harm reduction on B.C. overdose anniversary"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Brenna Owen Deaths from toxic drugs may have dipped, but now is not the time to pull back on life-saving measures, especially given “misinformation” in the public discourse, the top doctor at British Columbia’s First Nations Health Authority said Monday. Dr. Nel Wieman said Indigenous Peoples continue to be disproportionately represented among the deaths as the province marked the ninth anniversary of the toxic drug crisis being declared a public health emergency on April 14, 2016. Wieman said her team was pushing B.C.’s Health Ministry to help find a tailored approach for Indigenous-specific issues with the goal of preventing more people from dying and closing the gap with the non-Indigenous population. Wieman presented data showing 427 Indigenous people in B.C. died of a toxic drug overdose last year, a… <\/p>\n

\n
\n
This content is for Yearly Subscription, Yearly Subscription – Corporate, Print Subscription Only, and Canada Print and Online members only.
Register<\/a><\/div>\n
Already a member? Log in here<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Brenna Owen Deaths from toxic drugs may have dipped, but now is not the time to pull back on life-saving measures, especially given “misinformation” in the public discourse, the top doctor at British Columbia’s First Nations Health Authority said Monday. Dr. Nel Wieman said Indigenous Peoples continue to be disproportionately represented among the deaths as the province marked the ninth anniversary of the toxic drug crisis being declared a public health emergency on April 14, 2016. Wieman said her team was pushing B.C.’s Health Ministry to help find a tailored approach for Indigenous-specific issues with the goal of preventing more people from dying and closing the gap with the non-Indigenous population. Wieman presented data showing 427 Indigenous people in B.C. died of a toxic drug overdose last year, a... <\/p>\n

This content is for Yearly Subscription, Yearly Subscription - Corporate, Print Subscription Only, and Canada Print and Online members only.
Register<\/a><\/div>
Already a member? Log in here<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"author":101363,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-91305","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-national-news","category-ticker","pmpro-level-required","pmpro-level-3","pmpro-level-2","pmpro-level-5","pmpro-level-4","pmpro-level-6","pmpro-level-7","pmpro-no-access"],"yoast_head":"\nFirst Nations Health Authority backs harm reduction on B.C. overdose anniversary - The Turtle Island News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/15\/first-nations-health-authority-backs-harm-reduction-on-b-c-overdose-anniversary-2\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"First Nations Health Authority backs harm reduction on B.C. overdose anniversary - The Turtle Island News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Brenna Owen Deaths from toxic drugs may have dipped, but now is not the time to pull back on life-saving measures, especially given “misinformation” in the public discourse, the top doctor at British Columbia’s First Nations Health Authority said Monday. Dr. Nel Wieman said Indigenous Peoples continue to be disproportionately represented among the deaths as the province marked the ninth anniversary of the toxic drug crisis being declared a public health emergency on April 14, 2016. Wieman said her team was pushing B.C.’s Health Ministry to help find a tailored approach for Indigenous-specific issues with the goal of preventing more people from dying and closing the gap with the non-Indigenous population. Wieman presented data showing 427 Indigenous people in B.C. died of a toxic drug overdose last year, a\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/15\/first-nations-health-authority-backs-harm-reduction-on-b-c-overdose-anniversary-2\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Turtle Island News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TurtleIslandNews\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-04-15T12:32:35+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/facebooklogo.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"725\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"483\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Lynda Powless\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@newsattheturtle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@newsattheturtle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Lynda Powless\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/04\\\/15\\\/first-nations-health-authority-backs-harm-reduction-on-b-c-overdose-anniversary-2\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/04\\\/15\\\/first-nations-health-authority-backs-harm-reduction-on-b-c-overdose-anniversary-2\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Lynda Powless\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7b188fd7503577895ef8b306988cd458\"},\"headline\":\"First Nations Health Authority backs harm reduction on B.C. overdose anniversary\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-04-15T12:32:35+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/04\\\/15\\\/first-nations-health-authority-backs-harm-reduction-on-b-c-overdose-anniversary-2\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":847,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"National News\",\"ticker\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/04\\\/15\\\/first-nations-health-authority-backs-harm-reduction-on-b-c-overdose-anniversary-2\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/04\\\/15\\\/first-nations-health-authority-backs-harm-reduction-on-b-c-overdose-anniversary-2\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/04\\\/15\\\/first-nations-health-authority-backs-harm-reduction-on-b-c-overdose-anniversary-2\\\/\",\"name\":\"First Nations Health Authority backs harm reduction on B.C. overdose anniversary - The Turtle Island News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2025-04-15T12:32:35+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/04\\\/15\\\/first-nations-health-authority-backs-harm-reduction-on-b-c-overdose-anniversary-2\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/04\\\/15\\\/first-nations-health-authority-backs-harm-reduction-on-b-c-overdose-anniversary-2\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/04\\\/15\\\/first-nations-health-authority-backs-harm-reduction-on-b-c-overdose-anniversary-2\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"First Nations Health Authority backs harm reduction on B.C. overdose anniversary\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"The Turtle Island News\",\"description\":\"Your Source for Local News\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Turtle Island News\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2016\\\/08\\\/turtle150.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2016\\\/08\\\/turtle150.jpg\",\"width\":140,\"height\":150,\"caption\":\"Turtle Island News\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/TurtleIslandNews\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/newsattheturtle\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youtube.com\\\/channel\\\/UCOqB-hG3L6hRLsmqY0e5k0g\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7b188fd7503577895ef8b306988cd458\",\"name\":\"Lynda Powless\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9dcf622653a010411b0a01d44ed2a1a41158cc5195ea70acd7914787f81e63a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9dcf622653a010411b0a01d44ed2a1a41158cc5195ea70acd7914787f81e63a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9dcf622653a010411b0a01d44ed2a1a41158cc5195ea70acd7914787f81e63a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Lynda Powless\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/author\\\/lynda\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"First Nations Health Authority backs harm reduction on B.C. overdose anniversary - The Turtle Island News","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/15\/first-nations-health-authority-backs-harm-reduction-on-b-c-overdose-anniversary-2\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"First Nations Health Authority backs harm reduction on B.C. overdose anniversary - The Turtle Island News","og_description":"By Brenna Owen Deaths from toxic drugs may have dipped, but now is not the time to pull back on life-saving measures, especially given “misinformation” in the public discourse, the top doctor at British Columbia’s First Nations Health Authority said Monday. Dr. Nel Wieman said Indigenous Peoples continue to be disproportionately represented among the deaths as the province marked the ninth anniversary of the toxic drug crisis being declared a public health emergency on April 14, 2016. Wieman said her team was pushing B.C.’s Health Ministry to help find a tailored approach for Indigenous-specific issues with the goal of preventing more people from dying and closing the gap with the non-Indigenous population. Wieman presented data showing 427 Indigenous people in B.C. died of a toxic drug overdose last year, a","og_url":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/15\/first-nations-health-authority-backs-harm-reduction-on-b-c-overdose-anniversary-2\/","og_site_name":"The Turtle Island News","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TurtleIslandNews\/","article_published_time":"2025-04-15T12:32:35+00:00","og_image":[{"width":725,"height":483,"url":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/facebooklogo.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Lynda Powless","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@newsattheturtle","twitter_site":"@newsattheturtle","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Lynda Powless","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/15\/first-nations-health-authority-backs-harm-reduction-on-b-c-overdose-anniversary-2\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/15\/first-nations-health-authority-backs-harm-reduction-on-b-c-overdose-anniversary-2\/"},"author":{"name":"Lynda Powless","@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/7b188fd7503577895ef8b306988cd458"},"headline":"First Nations Health Authority backs harm reduction on B.C. overdose anniversary","datePublished":"2025-04-15T12:32:35+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/15\/first-nations-health-authority-backs-harm-reduction-on-b-c-overdose-anniversary-2\/"},"wordCount":847,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#organization"},"articleSection":["National News","ticker"],"inLanguage":"en-CA","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/15\/first-nations-health-authority-backs-harm-reduction-on-b-c-overdose-anniversary-2\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/15\/first-nations-health-authority-backs-harm-reduction-on-b-c-overdose-anniversary-2\/","url":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/15\/first-nations-health-authority-backs-harm-reduction-on-b-c-overdose-anniversary-2\/","name":"First Nations Health Authority backs harm reduction on B.C. overdose anniversary - The Turtle Island News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2025-04-15T12:32:35+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/15\/first-nations-health-authority-backs-harm-reduction-on-b-c-overdose-anniversary-2\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-CA","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/15\/first-nations-health-authority-backs-harm-reduction-on-b-c-overdose-anniversary-2\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/15\/first-nations-health-authority-backs-harm-reduction-on-b-c-overdose-anniversary-2\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"First Nations Health Authority backs harm reduction on B.C. overdose anniversary"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/","name":"The Turtle Island News","description":"Your Source for Local News","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-CA"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#organization","name":"Turtle Island News","url":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-CA","@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/turtle150.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/turtle150.jpg","width":140,"height":150,"caption":"Turtle Island News"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TurtleIslandNews\/","https:\/\/x.com\/newsattheturtle","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCOqB-hG3L6hRLsmqY0e5k0g"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/7b188fd7503577895ef8b306988cd458","name":"Lynda Powless","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-CA","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9dcf622653a010411b0a01d44ed2a1a41158cc5195ea70acd7914787f81e63a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9dcf622653a010411b0a01d44ed2a1a41158cc5195ea70acd7914787f81e63a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9dcf622653a010411b0a01d44ed2a1a41158cc5195ea70acd7914787f81e63a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Lynda Powless"},"url":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/author\/lynda\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91305","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/101363"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=91305"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91305\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":91306,"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91305\/revisions\/91306"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=91305"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=91305"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=91305"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}