B.C. toxic drug deaths in July mark second-deadliest month: Coroner

Editor’s note: An earlier version of this story had a typo in Sarah Blyth’s name, it has since been corrected

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) — We are getting a sombre new look at the impact the toxic drug supply is having on the province, with record-breaking deaths reported in July.

According to the BC Coroners Service, 184 people died, which is equal to about 5.9 lives lost per day.

“The deaths of another 184 of our community members in July is a stark reminder of the tragic and unrelenting trajectory of this public health emergency,” said Lisa Lapointe, chief coroner. “We know that the loss of each of these individuals leaves a devastated circle of family and friends who are grieving the preventable death of a cherished loved one.”

It’s the second deadliest month on record, and brings the provincial total of deaths to more than 1,200 since January. It also marks the 17th consecutive month in which the province has seen more than 100 deaths as a result of the toxic drug supply.

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The deaths are primarily among men between 30 and 59-years-old, and the majority happened inside private residences.

With the additional deaths, B.C. has broken another sombre record for the highest number of deaths recorded in the first seven months of a year recorded. The second highest was in 2017, when 954 people died between January and July.

Vancouver Coastal Health and Northern Health continue to have the highest rates of death. Fentanyl is far and beyond the biggest killer, with the substance found in 86 per cent of the deaths.

Post-mortem toxicology results show an increase in extreme fentanyl concentrations reported since 2020.* In Vancouver Coastal Health, 17 per cent of the fentanyl-detected deaths had concentrations greater than 50 micrograms per litre.

More than numbers

The shocking numbers have once again led to an appeal for safe supply, as “the heartbreak being experienced by another five or six more families in our province each and every day cannot continue,” said Lapointe.

“Those at risk of dying come from all walks of life and live in every part of our province. If we truly want to save lives, an accessible range of solutions that reflects the breadth and scope of this crisis is urgently needed. This would include drug-checking services, safe consumption sites, meaningful access to life-saving safe supply and the implementation of evidence-based standards of practice for the treatment of problematic substance use,” Lapointe said Wednesday in a statement. 

Sarah Blyth, the executive director of the Overdose Prevention Society, has been on the frontlines of this crisis and says she is overwhelmed by the number of deaths.

“Sometimes I just wake up just thinking how hopeless is all of this? How do we continue to fight for what’s right and make it make sense to someone?” she said Wednesday.

In addition to saving lives, the society has also served as a place to hold funeral services, especially for those who live on the Downtown Eastside, and they are becoming more and more frequent.

“We have become a place not only to help with overdoses, but if people die and they don’t have any family, or family doesn’t have the funding to put on a memorial service…it’s just really terrible,” Blyth said.

She says the problem doesn’t just exist on the Downtown Eastside, and she is hearing more and more people are using drugs to escape the pandemic. Without safe supply, it often turns lethal.

“People feel helpless, people are living in extreme conditions, with the heatwave and COVID, it’s a confusing time in general,” she said about the ability to get help.

In August, the province said it was working hard to separate people from the poisoned drug supply and build more treatment beds.

“Our government has been creating new drug policy in Canada that will save lives by supporting access to prescribed safer supply and connecting people to health-care services, and by moving forward on decriminalization of people who use drugs. We will do everything we can to turn this drug poisoning crisis around,” the province said.

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With files from Martin MacMahon