The BC Coroners Service says there were another 160 people across the province who died because of a suspect drug overdose in May.

It was the fifteenth consecutive month where there have been more than 100 overdose deaths.

Though the first five months of the year there have been a record 851 suspected overdose deaths, 147 deaths (or 21 per cent) more than the old record of 704 deaths set in 2017.

In Kamloops, there were seven new overdose deaths last month taking the total on the year to 26 deaths – the same number of people who lost their lives to an overdose in all of 2019.

Last year, there were 60 overdose deaths recorded in the city.

“More than five years into this public health emergency, we continue to lose our loved ones, friends and neighbours at an almost unimaginable rate,” said Lisa Lapointe, chief coroner, BC Coroners Service.

“There is no way to measure the catastrophic impact that the loss of these lives have had on every community in our province. Today, I grieve with all those who have lost someone close to them as a result of this crisis.”

Lapointe says there were an average of 5.2 lives were lost to illicit drugs every day in May noting the overall rate of deaths due to toxic illicit drugs in British Columbia now stands at 39.3 per 100,000 residents.

Every health authority in the province has recorded a death rate greater than 33.6 per 100,000 residents, the previous provincial high established in 2020.

The BC Coroners Service also says 27 per cent of the samples tested in April and 25 per cent of samples tested in May contained extreme concentrations (more than 50 micrograms per litre) of fentanyl – the highest rates reported since at least the beginning of 2019.

Meanwhile, Carfentanil, a more potent analogue of fentanyl, has now been detected in 75 deaths in 2021 – ten more than the 65 deaths it was detected in in all of 2020. Another 60 per cent of tests in May came back positive for benzodiazepines, which Lapoint says can create significant life-saving challenges for first responders when used in combination with opioids.

“As the COVID-19 pandemic begins to wind down, we must turn our attention to combating B.C.’s other public health emergency with the same sense of urgency,” Lapointe added.

“We need to ensure that safe alternatives to toxic illicit drugs are available throughout the province, and that we are taking meaningful steps to reduce stigma and offer substance users access to the supports they need and are seeking.”