1,158 people have died in BC due to the ongoing toxic drug crisis in the first half of 2024.
That comes from the BC Coroners Service, saying in their recent data that 181 unregulated drug deaths were found in May, with 185 deaths in June this year, equaling to 5.8 and 6.2 deaths per day respectively.
While the number of deaths so far is lower than the numbers at the same mark for the past three years, acting chief coroner John McNamee says people are still losing loved ones at a tragic rate.
“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,” said McNamee.
The data also shows nearly half of those deaths in May and June were between the ages of 30 and 49, with men making up 72 percent of the deaths, while the number of deaths for women has increased to 28 percent.
For health authorities on Vancouver Island and Sunshine Coast, 542 deaths were reported, with Island Health seeing 245 deaths, while Vancouver Coastal Health has 297.
103 deaths were reported in local health areas, with 5 for the Sunshine Coast, 4 for Powell River, 12 for the Cowichan Valley, 43 for Greater Nanaimo, 14 for the Comox Valley, and 19 for Greater Campbell River.
The coroners service adds Fentanyl continues to be the driver of these deaths, with the opioid found in 82 percent of the toxicological deaths so far this year.
Minister of Mental Health and Addictions Jennifer Whiteside says every single death is a reminder that there is more work to be done to end the crisis, one that since April 2016, has seen more than 14,948 lives lost to toxic drugs.
