There were another 11 toxic drug deaths in Kamloops in January this year, according to new preliminary data from the BC Coroners Service.

Across the province, they say there were 198 such deaths in the first month of 2024, an average of 6.4 deaths each day.

The Coroners also says there were four additional toxic drug deaths in Kamloops last year, taking the total on the year to 84, the second worst year on record.

The data released Thursday shows that seven out of every 10 people who died were between the age of 30 and 59, and more than three-quarters of the victims were men.

The Coroners say 14,024 people have lost their lives to unregulated drugs since the public-health emergency was first declared in April 2016.

In a statement, Jennifer Whiteside, B.C.’s minister of mental health and addictions, says the government is strengthen and expanding an entire system of care.

Whiteside says the province added $117 million in services in the latest budget along with $1-billion the government committed over three years in last year’s budget.