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By Liam Verster

29 Lives Lost to Date

Toxic drugs claimed another five local lives in August, September

Oct 24, 2024 | 11:03 AM

Five deaths associated with illicit toxic drugs were recorded in Vernon over the past two months.

The B.C. Coroners Service said the deaths in August and September brought the local drug death toll for Vernon up to 29 lives lost.

There were also 18 deaths recorded in Kelowna over that two month period, bringing the city’s year-to-date death toll to 67.

Kamloops had the highest drug death toll of any Interior community, recording 28 deaths over August of September, which brought the year-to-date total up to 81 lives lost to illicit toxic drugs.

The drug death tolls are subject to change, pending further testing, but as of time of publication they broke down as follows:

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29 Lives Lost to Date

Toxic drugs claimed another five local lives in August, September

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The to-date deaths put Kamloops on track to have a record death toll, surpassing the high of 92 recorded in 2022. Vernon and Kelowna are not on track o have death tolls that surpass the previous highs of 56 and 104, respectively, which were both recorded in 2023.

The lives lost locally were part of 370 illicit toxic drug deaths recorded throughout British Columbia in August and September.

To date there have been 1,749 people who have lost their lives to drugs in B.C.

While that figure is high and reflects approximately six deaths due to drugs per day, the B.C. Coroners Service noted that the total is down eight per cent from the deaths recorded in the first nine months of 2023.

The Interior and Vancouver Coastal health authorities had the highest drug death totals in September, with both areas recording 50 lives lost.

Data from the Coroners Service shows that 70 per cent of unregulated drug deaths in the province this year were people who were between the ages of 30 and 59, while 74 per cent were male.

The rate of female drug deaths in 2024 has risen to 21 per 100,000 people in 2024, up 60 per cent from 2020 when the rate was 13 per 100,000.

To date, 81 per cent of toxic drug deaths this year occurred inside, including 48 per cent in private residences.

Post-mortem toxicology tests shows that 82 per cent of people who have died in 2023 and 2024 had fentanyl in their systems, while cocaine was present in 49 per cent of cases, with methamphetamine also in 44 per cent of people, and bromazolam found in 36 per cent of the tests. Hydromorphone was present in just three per cent of tests.

The figures provided by the B.C. Coroners Service are preliminary and subject to change following further testing.