Illicit drug death numbers in B.C. remain high

Celebrity deaths seemed to be a global theme in 2016, but locally the talk this year has been about deaths from illicit drugs.

Through the first 10 months of 2016, illicit drug deaths continue to occur at the rate of about two each day, according to the latest statistics from the B.C. Coroners Service.

In 2016, there were 622 apparent illicit drug overdose deaths between January and October. This is a 56.7 percent increase over the number of deaths occurring during the same period in 2015, which was 397.

This information is part of a report that was recently published, summarizing all unintentional illicit drug overdose deaths in B.C. between Jan. 1, 2007 and Oct. 31, 2016, and with the exception of a small dip between 2011 and 2012, the number has been rising the entire time.

Fentanyl-related deaths appear to be the main reason for the sharp increase in illicit drug overdose deaths since 2012. If you exclude Fentanyl from the numbers, the number of deaths each year has stayed relatively stable since 2011 (an average of 294 deaths per year).

Individuals between the age of 19 and 39 have accounted for over half of the overdose deaths in 2016 and it was males that made up an astonishing 80.7 percent of fatalities. That number is up almost 10 percent since 2012.

With the number of deaths remaining so high, the B.C. Coroners Service continues to stress the importance of harm-reduction measures that need to be followed by anyone who is using illicit drugs. These include never using alone, having naloxone present and readily available, and knowing the signs of an overdose so you can call 911 right away.

The updated report on illicit drug deaths can be found here, with the updated report on the number of deaths involving fentanyl available here.