728 people have died due to illicit drugs in BC so far this year according to Chief Coroner Lisa Lapointe.
Sixteen of those deaths have taken occurred in Prince George.
The Coroners Service reported 1,500 overdose deaths in 2018 but saw a decline of only a thousand deaths last year.
In an interview with MyPGNow.com, Lapointe said people need to remember all walks of life are being impacted.
“The people who are dying are members of all communities. It’s not one group of folks in one area of the province it’s people everywhere in BC from all walks of life so a more concentrated effort in stemming this would be valuable.”
Lapointe is concerned 2020 will mirror what we saw in 2018 where 15-hundred people lost their lives due to suspected overdoses, while last year saw only a thousand drug toxicity deaths.
She added BC has seen a steady uptick in fatalities since fentanyl hit the streets five years ago.
“Before 2015, we saw maybe 300 people die due to drug use, and then in 2015, with the introduction of fentanyl the death rates started to climb and climb, and climb.”
The Chief Coroner is disappointed the public health emergency has taken a back seat during COVID-19 but admits they have received feedback from many sources on how to best tackle it going forward.
“Juries have made recommendations, we have had death review panels and the members have submitted ideas on what the province needs and that’s a system of treatment, recovery and harm reduction where there is a synergy.”
The Coroners Service reported its highest death toll for the second straight month with 175 in June, surpassing the previous mark of 171 in May.
“It’s difficult to see the number of people who are dying every month of substance toxicity and there has not been the same major response pre-COVID, but the province’s reaction to the pandemic was excellent as there was the potential for hundreds if not thousands of people to become ill.”
The illicit drug deaths from last month represent a 130% increase over the number of deaths from June of 2019.
Vancouver Coastal Health surpassed Northern Health for the highest rate of illicit drug deaths in BC at 33 per 100,000 people.
Northern Health, is next on the list at 32 per 100,000.