An average of 4 people died from illicit drug use every day this May.
A total of 129 British Columbians lost their lives – that’s a 158% increase over May 2016. May’s death toll is down very slightly from April’s total of 136. However, the BC Coroners Office says these numbers are provisional – the death toll will likely rise as more tests are concluded.
Until November 2016, B.C. had never seen as many as 100 drug deaths in a single month. In every month since then, the number has exceeded 110, with the all-time high being December 2016 with 159 deaths.
The total overdose death toll for 2017 is now 640 people. That’s nearly twice the number at this time last year. 2016 is currently the deadliest year on record for overdoses in BC but it looks like 2017 will be even deadlier.
“The number of deaths shows that the risks remain extreme,” said Chief Coroner Lisa Lapointe, in a statement. “The drug supply is unsafe, and casual and occasional users are at high risk of overdose due to their opioid naiveté.”
Northern BC has been mostly spared the opioid epidemic that has ravaged the Lower Mainland. There have been 20 fatal overdoses in the Northern Health authority so far this year, six of them in May. In the Northern Interior region, 11 people have died from illicit drug overdoses in 2017.
While there is not yet any data available for fentanyl-related overdoses from May, the BC Coroners Service says that the proportion of illicit drug deaths where fentanyl was detected continues to climb. During 2016, the proportion of fentanyl-related deaths stayed the same at about 60% but in the first four months of 2017, that figure rose to 72%, indicating continued toxicity within the drug supply.
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