By Pete McIntyre

Overdose deaths decrease but B.C. still in crisis

Feb 24, 2020 | 12:39 PM

The number of overdose deaths were down 36 per cent in B.C. last year, but officials say the numbers still add up to an average of 2.7 deaths per day.

Chief coroner Lisa Lapointe said 981 people died of suspected overdoses in 2019, with a combined figure of over 5,000 since the opioid crisis began and a health emergency was declared in 2016.

“These deaths have deeply hurt families and communities across our province and represent an immense loss of potential in all walks of life,” Lapointe said. “The number of illicit drug toxicity deaths in 2019 remains higher than motor vehicle incidents, suicides and homicides combined, and B.C. continues to bear the heaviest toll of the impacts of the unpredictable, profit-driven, illicit drug market.”

In Vernon, there were 13 overdose deaths last year, down from 20 the year before, according to figures from the B.C. Coroner’s Service.

Kelowna had 27 fatalities, down from the 50 in 2018.

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Harm reduction measures such as naloxone, are being cited as a main reason for the decreases.

The B.C. Coroners Service is joining health officials in renewing calls for improved access to a regulated, safer drug supply in the province.

“Collectively, we continue to urge for greater access to safe supply for those in our community who are experiencing, and struggling to live with, substance use disorder,” Lapointe added.

More than four in every five deaths in 2019 had fentanyl detected in post-mortem testing.

Despite a decrease of illicit drug toxicity deaths over the past year, the number of non-fatal events plateaued in 2019, according to data from BC Emergency Health Services.

“While we’re seeing a decrease in deaths, data from B.C. Emergency Health Services shows we were called to the same high level of overdoses in 2019,” Lance Stephenson, director of patient care delivery with B.C. Emergency Health Services said. “We are still getting called for more than 65 overdoses a day in B.C. We’re still in a crisis.”

The townships experiencing the highest number of illicit drug toxicity deaths in 2019 are Vancouver, Surrey, Victoria and Abbotsford.

By local health area, the rates of illicit drug toxicity deaths were highest in Princeton, Grand Forks, Hope, Keremeos, and Merritt, from 2017 to 2019.

by Pete McIntyre

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