According to the B.C. Government toxic drugs claimed the lives of 158 people in March.
The total number of deaths in the province for the year is 498. The 158 deaths in march represents a 41 per cent increase over the 112 deaths that were recorded in the same month last year. For the third consecutive month, more than five British Columbians lost their lives to toxic drugs every day. The yearly total also surpassed the previous high of 401 deaths that were recorded between January and March of 2017. The provincewide death rate for this year stands at 38.3 per 100,000 residents.
Carfentanil was detected in 18 deaths in March bringing the total number of related deaths this year to 48. Benzodiazepine’s detection rate increased from 15 per cent of samples in July 2020 to 51 per cent of samples in February 2021.
The highest death rates for the year are in the Northern Health region seeing 57 deaths per 100,000 individuals.
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