The BC Coroners Service is cautiously optimistic about a drop in illicit drug overdose deaths to start 2019.

Coroners spokeperson Andy Watson says there were 258 illicit overdose deaths in the first quarter of this year – a drop of more than 32 per cent from both 2018 and 2017 at this time. In March there were 104 overdose deaths province-wide, which is 34 per cent fewer than the same month of last year.

“I think it just shows that some of the efforts that have been put into place – whether that’s drug-checking services, safe consumption or overdose prevention sites, the awareness and education piece around the toxicity of the drug supply – hopefully those efforts are now being realized. We’re optimistic that maybe we’ve rounded a corner here.”

Watson says the Interior Health Authority has seen a similar decline as well.

“We’ve certainly seen the per-100,000 number go down. For the first three months of 2019, we’re averaging 22.9 deaths per 100,000 people in the Interior Health Authority, compared with 29.1 in 2018 and 31.4 in 2017, for the entire year for each of those years.”

In Kamloops however there have now been 12 overdose deaths this year, which is consistent with a record 47 deaths last year.

“It’s about the same pace in Kamloops, but obviously with small numbers the variability is very high. So I would interpret those numbers with caution.”

Watson says carfentanil has been detected in about one-quarter of fatal overdoses this year, which he says is significantly higher than previous years.  He says another piece of caution for the Coroners Service is that this data is preliminary and subject to change as investigations and post-mortem testing concludes.