Heroin overdoses spike in Vancouver

Vancouver Coastal Health is trying to warn drug users about a bad batch of heroin that has caused 31 overdoses at the city's supervised injection site.

Health-authority spokesman Gavin Wilson says bad heroin usually causes 10 to 12 overdoses a week but 16 overdosed at Insite on Sunday and 15 people overdosed on Monday.

Vancouver police Const. Brian Montague says people who are going to shoot up should do it at Insite.

Medical staff at the centre can provide oxygen to people experiencing the initial signs of an overdose and a drug called naloxone to reverse an overdose.