2021 is officially the deadliest year on record, when it comes to suspected illicit drug overdose deaths in BC.
According to a new report, release by the BC Coroners’ Service today, 2,224 people died from illicit overdoses last year.
That marks a 26 percent increase over 2020, after adding 215 reported deaths in December, breaking November’s single-month record.
2021 had already passed the previous year in October, but added more than 200 deaths in each of November and December.
Over the past 7 years, the rate of death due to illicit drug overdoses in the province has climbed by more than 400 percent.
Fentanyl was detected in 83 percent of toxicological samples tested in 2021, and etizolam was found in 50 percent, up 15 percent in the second half of the year.
Northern Health saw 146 overdose deaths last year, up from the previous record of 134, set in 2020.
In 2021, an average of 6.1 lives were lost due to overdose deaths in BC each day.
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