The latest report on illicit drug deaths in B.C. for October has been released.
In October there were 162 deaths due to illicit drugs. That means five people died per day from overdosing.
Lisa Lapointe, Chief Coroner said in a statement, “This is the fifth month this year with more than 160 suspected illicit drug deaths reported to the BC Coroners Service and more than double the number of people who died as a result of a toxic drug supply in October 2019.”
The number of people who overdosed in October of last year was 75, that means we saw an increase of 116 per cent in the number of overdose related deaths this year. Post-mortem testing suggests an increase in the number of cases with extreme fentanyl concentrations in April to October of this year.
There have been 1,386 illicit drug deaths to date in 2020 here in B.C.. Northern Health still has the highest rate in B.C. seeing 44 deaths per 100,000 individuals.
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