B.C. records deadliest month due to illicit drug overdoses in province’s history | Globalnews.ca

The B.C. Coroners Service has found 201 people died from suspected illicit drug toxicity deaths in October, the deadliest month on record for the province.

The 1,782 suspected illicit drug toxicity deaths between January and October 2021 are the highest ever recorded in a calendar year, the service revealed in numbers released Thursday.

Chief coroner Lisa Lapointe is scheduled to speak to reporters at 9 a.m. Thursday. Minister of Mental Health and Addictions Sheila Malcolmson is scheduled to speak to reporters at 10 a.m.

The previous high was 1,765 deaths for all of 2020. The number of illicit drug toxicity deaths in October 2021 works out to about 6.5 deaths per day.

In November, the province asked the federal government for an exemption from criminal penalties for people who possess small amounts of illicit drugs for personal use.

After an announcement last April, the province officially became the first to ask Ottawa for the exemption from Health Canada under Section 56(1) of the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act.

The request is one supported by Lapointe and B.C. provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry.

Preliminary data in 2021 has found that fentanyl or its analogues have been detected in 84 per cent of all illicit drug toxicity deaths.

Carfentanil has been detected in 152 suspected illicit drug toxicity deaths in the first 10 months of 2021, compared to 66 deaths in 2020.

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October marks the 13th consecutive month in which there were at least 150 deaths due to toxic illicit drugs.

There has been 419 illicit drug overdose deaths in Vancouver alone so far this year, matching the entirety of 2020 in the city.

More to come…