Testimony continued Wednesday in the coroner's inquest into the drug overdose death of Oak Bay teenager, Elliot Eurchuk.
It was an emotional day at the inquest, which is being held out at UVic Law School. At times, people in the audience broke into tears as they heard the testimony of three young people who knew Eurchuk.
The witnesses, who cannot be identified because of a publication ban, were friends of Eurchuk who testified about his drug use.
One told the inquest that he and Eurchuk bought heroin online and that Eurchuk used money he made from mining Bitcoin to buy drugs.
The same witness testified that he and Eurchuk used heroin together hours before the teenager died.
He also said Eurchuk, 16, had ordered six grams of heroin from Switzerland. The drugs were delivered to the witness's home, arriving after Eurchuk had died.
Eurchuk's parents testified earlier in the week about their son becoming addicted to painkillers and opioids prescribed to him after surgeries for sports injuries. Eurchuk's father, Brock Eurchuk, said he didn't know the extent of his son's drug addiction.
"He was more studied on drugs than I knew, and I think he thought he could handle his dependency. I think he [thought he] could manage his way out of it... and he was fatally wrong."
The former Oak Bay High School student was found dead by his mother in his bedroom on April 20, 2018. Fentanyl, cocaine and heroin were found in his system.
Eurchuk's parents have pushed for changes to the law that prevented them from accessing their son's medical records while he was in treatment because he was 16 years old.
The inquest also heard Wednesday from police officers who had responded to calls to the family home following disputes between the parents and their sons.
Brock says his family will be scarred for the rest of their lives, but he wants light shone on the problem of drug abuse.
The inquest is going to hear from more than 40 witnesses, with testimony expected to wrap up by next Thursday. Then the jury of five people will deliberate and come back with recommendations about how to avoid a death in similar circumstances.
