Second highest drug death annual total on record for Vernon

Jan 31, 2023 | 12:03 PM

Vernon had its second highest annual total lives lost due to illicit drugs in 2022.

The B.C. Coroner’s Service reported a preliminary total of 40 accidental illicit toxic drug poisoning deaths in the city over the course of the year.

That is the second highest on record after 42 were confirmed in Vernon in 2021.

The deaths include seven between November 1 and December 31, though the Coroners Service did not provide a breakdown of the deaths in each month. The last drug toxicity death update provided by the Coroners Service had data up to the end of October.

The 2022 figures were also above the previous second highest death toll in Vernon, which was 28 deaths in 2020.

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Kelowna and Kamloops, meanwhile, each set new annual records for illicit toxic substance deaths in 2022.

Kelowna had a preliminary total of 87 deaths, up from 76 the previous year, while Kamloops had 88 deaths, one more than in 2021.

Kelowna recorded 16 deaths over the last two months of the year, while Kamloops saw 14 people die due to toxic drugs over the same period.

The local deaths were part of 2,272 recorded across B.C.

That preliminary total was the second highest on record after the 2021 figure of 2,306 deaths.

In the Interior, there was a preliminary total of 388 fatal cases linked to illicit toxic drugs in 2022, up from the 378 total from 2021.

“While we have seen a small decline in 2022 in the provincial rate of death due to toxic drugs from 44.2 to 42.7 per 100,000 [people], three of the five health authorities experienced their highest rates of death ever in 2022,” Lisa Lapointe, B.C.’s Chief Coroner said.

“Interior Health Authority with 46 deaths per 100,000; Vancouver Coastal with 50.5 deaths per 100,000; and Northern Health Authority with 59.5 deaths per 100,000.”

With an average of six deaths due to illicit drugs each day in B.C. over the past three years, drug toxicity is the leading cause of unnatural deaths in B.C.

The Coroners Service report stated people between the ages of 30 and 39 had the highest toxic drug death figure per age demographic in B.C. at 547. That group was followed by the 50 to 59 age group with 536, then the 40 to 49 demographic at 506.

In 2022, men made up 1,784, or 78.5 per cent, of the toxic drug fatals in B.C.

The report also stated that 55.1 per cent of the overdose deaths reported in B.C. occurred in private residences, 23.6 per cent were in other residences, and 14.6 per cent occurred outside.

In the Interior, 61.8 per cent of the illicit drug deaths happened in a private residence, 20.8 per cent were in another residence, and 12.1 per cent occurred outside.

“[Illicit drug poisoning deaths] significantly surpassed the total of deaths due to motor vehicles incidents, self-harm, and homicide combined,” stated Lapointe, adding drug poisonings came second only to cancer in terms of potential years of life lost in B.C.

It was noted that illicit fentanyl and its analogues have been present in 85.8 per cent of toxic drug poisoning deaths recorded in B.C. between 2019 and 2022.

In the Interior, 91 per cent of illicit toxic drug deaths recorded between July 2020 and December 2022 involved fentanyl and its analogues.

“The illicit drug supply continues to be highly unpredictable,” Lapointe said.

“Extreme fentanyl concentrations fluctuated in 2022, being detected in seven to 19 per cent of deaths, depending on the month. Carfentanyl continues to be detected, though slightly less prevalent than last year, and we’re seeing an average of 10.5 deaths per month in 2022.”

Postmortem toxicology results has found no evidence of safe supply being linked to any accidental drug poisoning deaths in B.C. There have also been no deaths reported at any supervised consumption site.

An estimated 11,171 deaths in B.C. have been linked to illicit drug toxicity since the public health emergency was first declared in April 2016.

Jennifer Whiteside, minister of mental health and addictions, said in a statement, her heart goes out to the 2,272 victims last year and the people who loved them.

Whiteside says the Eby government is working to build up a comprehensive mental-health and substance-use system of care that works for everyone.

“We want to make sure that when people make the important decision to reach out for help, services are available to meet them at every step of their journey. That’s why we are continuing to add services to tackle this crisis from all sides,” Whiteside said.

Whiteside said reducing the stigma around drug use is another vital part of B.C.’s work to build a system of care, adding substance use is a public health matter, not a criminal justice one.

“Today, British Columbia became the first province to decriminalize people who use drugs to fight the shame and stigma around addictions. Breaking down these barriers will help people feel safer reaching out for support and create new pathways to life-saving services and care,” the minister said.

by Liam Verster

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