Disturbing footage shared online appears to show a man convulsing violently as he lies across a bench in a Canadian public park.
The video carries a starkly matter-of-fact caption: ‘Average scenes on a park bench in Pete Fry COPE Paradise Vancouver, BC.’
The unsettling scene has renewed attention on the drug crisis affecting communities across British Columbia, while raising fresh concerns about safety and disorder in the city’s public spaces.
In January 2023, British Columbia introduced a controversial pilot program that removed criminal penalties for adults found carrying small amounts of certain illegal drugs.
Under the policy, adults could possess up to 2.5 grams of substances such as cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine and MDMA for personal use without being criminally charged.
Following widespread criticism, possession restrictions were restored in May 2024, although the pilot did not officially end until January 31, 2026.
More recently, animal rescuers have warned that crows may be becoming intoxicated after coming into contact with discarded narcotics in the city.
Good Caws Crow Rescue Society says its volunteers now carry naloxone, a medication typically used to reverse opioid overdoses in humans, because they are using it to try to save affected birds.
Video appearing to show a man convulsing on a Vancouver park bench has intensified public anger over the city’s worsening drug crisis
The disturbing footage highlights the broader fallout from a drug epidemic that has made Vancouver a global symbol of urban disorder
Good Caws Crow Rescue Society says crows in Prince George, British Columbia, have been encountering opioid residue left behind in the crime-hit city
Volunteer Dayna Slater said the organization has responded to more than a dozen suspected drug overdoses involving crows this year.
‘It’s disheartening, it’s scary,’ Slater told the CBC. ‘It’s a whole bunch of factors coming together to make the perfect storm.’
Affected birds have been found with their wings extended, their eyes closed and their heart rates dangerously slow. Some have died despite rescue efforts.
Others remain alive but are almost entirely unresponsive. In several cases, Slater said, brown liquid foam has been seen coming from the birds’ beaks.
She believes the crows are encountering traces of toxic drugs in exposed rubbish left on city streets.
‘A crow doesn’t know the difference between a sandwich bag and a bag that had something in it,’ Slater said.
According to Slater, reports of overdosing birds are increasing in an area of Prince George associated with illicit drug use.
Vancouver’s drug problems became an international political flashpoint in January 2023, when British Columbia launched its progressive pilot program to decriminalize possession of small quantities of selected illegal substances.
The crisis has become so widespread that Good Caws Crow Rescue Society volunteers now carry naloxone to respond to suspected overdoses among birds
Critics warned from the outset that the policy could make public drug use more visible while shifting the consequences onto residents, businesses and local communities.
The mounting backlash led to a significant policy reversal. In May 2024, restrictions on drug possession were reinstated in most public spaces, including parks and streets.
British Columbia Premier David Eby later acknowledged that the program introduced under his oversight had serious flaws.
‘I was wrong on drug decriminalization and the effect it would have,’ he said in a speech in October 2025.
‘What it became was a permissive structure that… it was okay to use drugs anywhere that resulted in really unhappy consequences.’
The pilot officially expired on January 31, 2026.
However, the broader drug crisis continues to affect communities throughout British Columbia.
Fentanyl and other toxic substances have driven a deadly overdose epidemic, as residents and business owners continue to report concerns about open drug use, discarded needles and disorder in public areas.
