Nearly 13 people died every two days in B.C.’s toxic drug supply in February and March, the BC Coroner’s Service announced Tuesday.
A total of 596 people were killed by unregulated or street drugs in the first three months of this year. BC recorded 599 deaths compared to the same period in 2022, the worst year in the province’s history.
“Unregulated drug toxicity remains the leading cause of unnatural death in British Columbia, killing more people than homicides, suicides, motor vehicle accidents, drowning and fire-related deaths combined,” said a statement from the Coroner’s Service.
Chief Coroner Lisa Lapointe called the crisis “incomprehensible scale,” noting April 14 was the province’s first and now longest-ever public health emergency 7th anniversary.
British Columbia set grim records in March for the most drug poisoning calls in one day, the highest 30-day average overdose calls and the most consecutive days with 100 or more poisoning calls by a paramedic.
The province is also on track to set a new record for poisoning calls in a year and tie its annual record for the most doses of naloxone administered to reverse the effects of opioids.
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