2022 B.C. toxic drug deaths second worst on record
Posted January 31, 2023 8:06 am.
Last Updated January 31, 2023 11:11 am.
B.C. has marked another grim milestone, with more than 2,000 suspected illicit drug toxicity deaths reported in 2022.
The BC Coroners Service says there were 2,272 deaths reported last year. This is “the second largest number of suspected deaths ever recorded in a calendar year, behind 2021,” when there were 2,306.
In November and December, the number of deaths were 182 and 210 respectively.
“We all look forward to the day when this public health emergency is over and these updates are no longer necessary,” chief coroner Lisa Lapointe said Tuesday, adding people across B.C. continue to “experience tremendous harm and loss as a result of … the toxic illicit drug supply.”
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The number of lives lost in the last two months of 2022 equate to about 6.4 deaths per day. Over the course of the year, the Coroners Service says there was an average of 189 deaths each month, or 6.2 every day.
According to the agency, the final total of deaths in 2022 will likely increase as investigations wrap up and causes of deaths are determined.
“B.C. has experienced an average of six deaths every day of every week for two years due to toxic drugs. And these deaths are preventable,” Lapointe said.
“As has been consistent since the beginning of this public health emergency, the vast majority of those dying are males, and 70 per cent of those who died were aged 30 to 59.”
The latest figures are being released the same day B.C. begins its decriminalization pilot project. As of Tuesday and until Jan. 31, 2026, adults 18 and older will not be arrested or charged, and will not have their drugs seized if they’re found in possession of up to 2.5 grams of certain illicit substances.
Lapointe says the decriminalization of people is a “historic and incredibly important change.”
“[It] reflects a shift from marginalizing and stigmatizing those who use drugs, to acknowledging that they are people we value and care about,” the chief coroner said.
“It is a key first step and, as we’ve heard from both the federal and provincial mental health and addictions ministers, is one measure of many that are necessary to end this crisis.”
To date, the BC Coroners Service says at least 11,171 deaths have been linked to the toxic drug supply in B.C. since April 2016, when a public health emergency was declared.
The coroner says the “Vancouver Centre-North Local Health Authority” saw the largest number of deaths in 2022. Record high figures were reported in the Northern Health, Interior Health, and Island Health regions.
“The reality is that these deaths are preventable,” Lapointe said. “Toxicology data confirms that the drug supply in British Columbia is increasingly volatile and life-threatening.”
Lapointe continues to stress the urgent need for access to a safer supply.
“There is no indication that prescribed safe supply is contributing to illicit drug tests,” she said, adding Standing Committee on Health and two BC Coroners Service death review panels have also recommended a “coordinated goal-driven provincial strategy and a comprehensive continuum of substance use care.”
“The panel also reiterated the recommendation for the 2017 illicit drug toxicity death review panel, the need to provincially regulate and appropriately oversee treatment and recovery programs to ensure that they provide evidence-based quality care, and that outcomes are closely monitored and evaluated in January 2023. Large gaps remain in all of these areas”
