Before I answer that, I'd like to emphasize that we have a dearth of research in this area. We do not have evidence across the country as to exactly who's dying, when they're dying, and why they're dying. We don't know, for example, how many people who are currently dying were prescribed opiates. If you're going to implement evidence-based solutions, you need evidence, and we do not have that. I would certainly call on this committee to seek some investment in the research.
To answer your questions, one of the things we hear anecdotally from the people are working with illicit drug users is that the language around stronger drugs, more powerful drugs, will cause a certain segment of the drug-using population to seek out those drugs. We're talking about people who are now actively seeking fentanyl because it's a better high, because it's stronger than the heroin they've been using, for example.
I also want to be clear that the drug deaths that we're seeing in B.C. are not just from opiates. Cocaine is also often involved. Alcohol is often involved. We are starting to do the research to pull out the different substances, but without knowing exactly what substances are killing people and how they started to use those substances, I would argue that we really can't implement any meaningful solutions.