By Times Chronicle Staff
British Columbia has now lost more than 10,000 lives to illicit drugs since April 2016, according to the BC Coroners Service.
“Tragically, in the seventh year of this public health emergency, as we are experiencing increasing numbers of deaths in July, our province has now lost more than 10,000 lives to illicit drugs,” said Chief Coroner Lisa Lapointe.
“These were men, women and youth from all walks of life. They lived in our neighbourhoods, worked in our workplaces and played on our sports teams. Some lived ordinary lives, while others faced enormous challenges. All of them fell prey to the lethal supply of illicit drugs that is omnipresent,” Lapointe said.
“It’s only when we drastically reduce people’s reliance on the profit-driven, illicit drug trade, that we will save lives and turn the trajectory of this crisis around.”
As recommended by experts on the recent Death Review Panel, it is imperative that B.C. urgently provide access to a safer drug supply, Lapointe said.
The BC Coroners Service reports that at least 1,095 British Columbians are believed to have been lost to the toxic drug supply between January and June 2022.
Lapointe noted that deaths due to toxic drugs in the first half of 2022 have surpassed the number of deaths experienced in the same period in 2021.
More than three quarters (78 per cent) of the lives lost in 2022 were male and nearly the same percentage (73 per cent) were between the ages of 30-59. On average, more than six lives have been lost to illicit drugs every day this year, according to the BC Coroners Service.
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.
