Illicit Drug Supply In BC Continues To Devastate Communities

Chief Coroner Lisa Lapointe says anyone using drugs purchased from illicit suppliers is at high risk for serious harm or death."

The illicit drug supply in British Columbia continues to devastate communities throughout the province, with at least 192 lives lost to toxic substances in July, according to preliminary reporting released by the BC Coroners Service.

Chief Coroner Lisa Lapointe says the unregulated drug market "continues to be volatile and toxic, and anyone using drugs purchased from illicit suppliers is at high risk for serious harm or death."

The 192 lives lost in July represent a 31% increase over the 147 deaths recorded in June, and equates to approximately 6.2 deaths per day. Nearly 1,300 deaths due to toxic drugs have been reported to the BC Coroners Service between January and July, which is a record number for the first seven months of a calendar year.

Overall, the rate of death in B.C. in 2022 is 42 per 100,000 individuals, more Sep 16, 2022 than twice the death rate in 2016 when the public-health emergency was declared.

Illicit drug toxicity is the leading cause of unnatural death in British Columbia and is second only to cancers in terms of years of life lost. At least 10-thousand British Columbians have been lost to the illicit drug supply since the public-health emergency of substance-related harms was first declared in April 2016.