Toxic drugs continue to kill 6 people per day in B.C.: Coroners Service

The BC Coroners Service (BCCS) says at least 1,158 people have been killed by unregulated toxic drugs during the first half of 2024 in the province.

In an update on toxic drug deaths Tuesday, the BCCS says its preliminary data shows that 181 and 185 people died from the unregulated supply in May and June, respectively.

“Though the number of deaths to date this year is lower than at the same mark over the previous three years, approximately six people are still dying each day because of unregulated toxic drugs,” the coroners service said in a statement.

Nearly half of the reported deaths in May and June were people between the ages of 30 and 49, with men accounting for 72 per cent of the deaths so far in 2024.

The BCCS says the rate of deaths among women continues to rise and currently accounts for 28 per cent of recorded deaths in 2024.

“People are continuing to lose their loved ones in communities across B.C. at a tragic rate,” John McNamee, acting chief coroner, said. “Even as the figures reflect a 9% decrease in the number of deaths reported to the coroners service during the first six months of this year from 2023, the number of lives lost is still significant.”

The BCCS says the rates of unregulated toxic deaths per 100,000 people are the highest in the Northern Interior, North Vancouver Island, Vancouver, and Central Vancouver Island. However, more than one-fifth of the people killed so far in 2024 have been in Vancouver, Surrey, and Greater Victoria.

“Fentanyl continues to be the driver of unregulated drug-toxicity deaths, detected in 82% of expedited toxicological tests conducted so far in 2024,” the coroners service said Tuesday.

“Unregulated drug toxicity remains the leading cause of death in British Columbia for those age 10 to 59, accounting for more deaths than homicides, suicides, accidents and natural diseases combined. Since the public-health emergency was declared in April 2016, more than 14,948 people have lost their lives to unregulated toxic drugs,” the service continued.