158 people died of unregulated toxic drugs in September: BC Coroners Service

The BC Coroners Service says 158 people died this September due to unregulated drug toxicity.

The number is up from the 150 reported deaths in August, and marks an overall high number of deaths from the same cause since May.

The preliminary data suggest an average of 5.3 people in B.C. died from unregulated drug toxicity every day of September.

Leslie McBain with Moms Stop the Harm says the report is terrible and tragic, but nothing new.

“Not much is changing in the last few months. One hundred fifty-eight lives lost to a preventable cause is sort of a continual, ongoing scenario,” said McBain.

She says there’s a troubling lack of evidence as to why the number is so high.

“It’s a situation that could be remedied in many ways, but government doesn’t seem to be really willing to make the radical changes that will save folks from this kind of supply.”

She says unfavourable public opinion of safe-supply and harm-reduction measures has caused governments to defund or revoke certain programs that would save lives.

“There are bigger ways we could go on this that we know would significantly decrease the risk of the street drugs. We have to really admit that people are going to use drugs — that people are going to become addicted, and will have no other supply. That’s just a fact. So we have to deal with what is rather than what we think it should look like.”

She says Moms Stop the Harm advocates for better services for people suffering from illicit drug addiction and prevention and wellness education in schools, among other efforts.

The BC Coroners Service says fentanyl and its analogues remain the leading substances found in unregulated drug deaths in 2025.

Those substances were detected in 84 per cent of cases, followed by cocaine and methamphetamine.

Smoking is the most common method of use at 65 per cent.

The cities experiencing the highest number of toxic drug deaths this year were Vancouver at 314 and Surrey with 137, while 93 people died in Greater Victoria.

Officials note that the data is preliminary and may change as investigations continue.

—With files from The Canadian Press