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By Liam Verster

Fatal Overdoses

Three lives lost locally due to toxic drugs in October

Dec 2, 2025 | 3:27 PM

Vernon saw three lives lost to illicit toxic drugs in October.

The deaths came following a September when there were no fatal overdoses locally.

To date, a total of 24 people have died due to unregulated drugs in Vernon this year.

Kelowna meanwhile recorded seven suspected drug deaths during the latest reporting month.

That followed the trend for the Central Okanagan city, as there were seven deaths recorded in September as well.

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A total of 76 lives had been lost in Kelowna due to toxic drugs as of the end of October this year.

The local deaths were part of 150 recorded across B.C. in October.

The provincial death toll was down slightly compared to the 158 deaths in September, though the B.C. Coroner’s Service said a total of 1,538 had been lost to date due to illicit substances.

The Coroner’s Service said of the lives lost to drugs so far this year, 21 of them were aged 19 or under. Comparatively, there were 17 similar deaths between January and October of 2024, though there have been years with more youth drug deaths during that same period, with the Coroner’s Service pointing to the 24 deaths in 2023, 30 in 2022, and 24 in 2021.

So far, 77 per cent of unregulated drug deaths this year have occurred inside, with 48 per cent occurring in private residences.

The Coroner’s Service said 70 per cent of people who had died due to toxic drugs this year were between the ages of 30 and 59, and that 77 per cent were male.

Fentanyl was also detected in 69 per cent of postmortem toxicology tests this year, though the Coroner’s Service did note that testing found that over 90 per cent of people who died due to drugs in October also had stimulants in their systems.