Overdose prevention 'street degree' helping CRAB Park residents
Course provides training for drug users working at overdose prevention sites, as well as frontline workers
Graduates of a Vancouver program focused on drug overdose prevention say it has been helpful in their own lives, with instructors saying some students have gone on to find employment at overdose prevention sites.
Larry Cocksedge, who lives in the city's CRAB Park encampment, is a recent graduate of Vancouver Coastal Health's 'street degree' course in overdose prevention.
He received his certificate on Monday after successfully completing 20 hours of training on a number of topics, including naloxone administration, advance overdose response and alcohol harm reduction.
"I have [taken] 15 courses but you only need 10 for the certificate," Cocksedge told CBC News.
The street degree is part of B.C.'s toxic drug emergency response and is funded by the Ministry of Mental Health and Addictions.
The course started in 2017 as part of a collaboration between PHS Community Services Society and Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH), to provide training for current and former drug users working at overdose prevention sites (OPS), as well as other frontline workers responding to the drug overdose crisis.
Classes are held two days a month at the Vancouver Japanese Language School and Japanese Hall National Historic Site in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside.
The program has since evolved to offer training at supervised consumption sites and to residents of CRAB Park.
'It helped me gain control over my own habits'
More than 20 people from the tent encampment, including Cocksedge, have taken the course so far, says Fiona York, an advocate for CRAB Park residents.
"It's been really successful. There's obviously real-world application, it's very practical, there are employment opportunities and it's a great asset," York said.
Sarah Levine, a clinical nurse specialist with VCH and one of the program instructors, says participants are also using the certification to get jobs or advance their roles at overdose prevention sites and other community services.
"[Our graduates] start working with us as a casual educator [or] end up managing at a different OPS sites or become a drug-checking expert or just go into treatment or recovery," she said.
One graduate, CRAB Park resident Clint Randen, told CBC News the program has helped him with his struggles with substance use and addiction.
"[It] helped me gained control over my own habits ... I am trying to quit and change my life," said Randen, who has worked at a number of overdose prevention sites.
More than 1,000 participants in the course
Unregulated drug toxicity is the leading cause of death in B.C. for people age 10 to 59, accounting for more deaths than homicides, suicides, accidents and natural diseases combined, according to the B.C. Coroners Service.
Recent provincial data reveals there were over 2,500 suspected illicit drug deaths in the province in 2023 — equivalent to seven deaths a day.
Sean David Graves, another participant in the street degree program, says he feels lucky.
"I've been dead before. That's how bad it's been, man," Graves said. "I was brought back [to life] by the paramedics."
Graves says naloxone has saved his life more than once.
"I make a point of figuring out my schedule to make sure that I at least [have time to] make it to the course," he said.
More than 1,130 people have taken the course, and about 80 people have graduated after fulfilling 20 hours of training, according to Levine.
VCH also offers an extended Master's degree in the same program.
"Those are for people who've done 20 separate courses and 40 hours of training," Levine said.
In addition to overdose prevention, VCH's street degree also covers conflict resolution, public speaking and, as Graves says, valuable life lessons.
"Just teaching you how to be a human," he said, "because down here life can be really, really hard."
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