Local toxic drug deaths rose over the past two months

The downward trend of illicit toxic drug deaths in Vernon has come to an end.

The B.C. Coroners Service reported a combined eight illicit toxic drug deaths in Vernon during May and June this year.

Local data specific for each month was not provided, though the combined total was above the total of five deaths reported locally in March and April.

The deaths in those two months brought the year-to-date death toll due to suspected illicit substance poisonings in Vernon to 19.

Kelowna and Kamloops also saw illicit toxic drugs death tolls increase.

The B.C. Coroners Service data showed a combined 15 lives lost to toxic drugs in Kelowna during May and June, as well as 11 in Kamloops during that period.

Kelowna’s figures increased compared to the combined 13 deaths in March and May, though Kamloops’s figure did decline, as the two prior months saw a combined total of 14 deaths in that city.

As of the end of June, the B.C. Coroners Service recorded 41 illicit drug deaths in Kelowna, and 45 in Kamloops.

During the two-month period, there were a combined 34 drug deaths in the Okanagan, and 63 in the Interior.

May saw 15 drug deaths recorded in the Okanagan and 29 seen throughout the Southern Interior, while June’s figures showed 19 deaths in the Okanagan and 34 deaths in the Interior. Comparatively, April saw 14 deaths in the Okanagan and 28 in all of the Interior.

To date, there have been 96 suspected illicit substance poisoning deaths in the Okanagan this year, and 189 in the Interior.

The province as a whole also saw its drug death figures fluctuate.

After recording 182 toxic substance deaths across B.C. in April, the B.C. Coroners Service reported 181 in May and 185 in June. Those figures represented 5.8 and 6.2 deaths per day, respectively.

To date, a total of 1,158 toxic drug deaths had been reported in B.C.

“People are continuing to lose their loved ones in communities across B.C. at a tragic rate,” acting chief coroner, John McNamee, said.

“Even as the figures reflect a 9 per cent decrease in the number of deaths reported to the coroners service during the first six months of this year from 2023 (1,279 deaths), the number of lives lost is still significant.”

Data from the service show 69 per cent of the people who lost their lives to toxic drugs this year were between the ages of 30 and 59, and that 72 per cent of them were male. The rate of female deaths have also increased year-over-year to 22 deaths per 100,000 population, almost double 2020’s rate of 13 per 100,000 people.

Data on the deaths recorded in 2024 showed that 82 per cent of them occurred inside, including 49 per cent in a private residence, and 34 per cent in other inside residences including social and supportive housing, shelters, and hotels.

“Today, we acknowledge with deep sadness the latest report from the BC Coroners Service, which reveals the tragic loss of 181 and 185 people in British Columbia this May and June due to toxic-drug poisoning. Every single one of these people was irreplaceable to their loved ones, and our words fall short of bringing comfort to those who are grieving and enduring a heartbreaking loss. These losses reinforce the urgent need to keep people safe from toxic drugs and to connect them with care and treatment that works for them,” Minister of Mental Health and Addictions Jennifer Whiteside stated.

“As noted in the report, the number of toxic-drug deaths in the first six months of 2024 is lower compared to the same period in 2023, and the rate of death is at its lowest point in four years. We are monitoring this closely as we continue to expand access to treatment and recovery services, and services to keep people safe.”

In 2023-24, fentanyl was detected in 85 per cent of post-mortem toxicology findings. Cocaine was found in 48 per cent of cases, methamphetamine was present in 44 per cent of deaths, bromazolam was found in the systems of 34 per cent of people who had died, and hydromorphone was present in three per cent of the unregulated drug deaths.

Only one death has ever been recorded at an Overdose Prevention Site in B.C., and that was in 2022.