174 toxic drug deaths reported in August: BC Coroners Service

The BC Coroners Service says it is investigating 174 deaths related to unregulated toxic drugs in August — the lowest monthly total recorded in over a year.

The agency said Monday there were an average of over five deaths per day due to toxic drugs last month. So far in 2023, the coroner says there have been over 1,600 lives lost due to unregulated drugs.

“We are continuing to lose members of our communities in heartbreaking numbers as a result of the toxicity of the illicit drug market,” said Chief Coroner Lisa Lapointe.

“No town, neighbourhood or family is immune from this crisis and as the years of this public-health emergency go by, more and more British Columbians are experiencing the devastating loss of a friend, colleague or family member to the illicit-drug supply.”

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The BC Coroners Service says the August figures mark the lowest monthly total recorded since June 2022. However, it advises “caution should be exercised when drawing conclusions regarding trends from a single month of data.”

“Recent data is preliminary and subject to change as investigations are completed and causes of death are confirmed,” the coroner said.

The agency says smoking was the “dominant mode of consumption,” accounting for nearly two-thirds of death investigations so far this year.

“This continues a pattern first observed in 2017 and further underscores the need for spaces for people who use drugs to smoke them safely.”

In response to what the coroner described as “increased public concerns regarding safer supply initiatives currently underway in the province,” the agency says it is continuing to screen for safer supply-related substances in toxic drug death investigations.

“Hydromorphone has been detected in 3% of expedited toxicological testing in 2023. Conversely, illicit fentanyl has been present in 85% of such tests,” the service said, in response to ongoing concerns around safer supply.

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Drug toxicity, the coroner says, continues to be the leading cause of death for British Columbians between 10 and 59 years old — accounting for more fatalities than crimes and natural diseases combined.

With the latest numbers, the coroner says nearly 13,000 British Columbians have died as a result of unregulated toxic drugs since a public health emergency was declared in 2016.