New preliminary data from the BC Coroners Service shows there were another nine toxic drug deaths in Kamloops in February of this year.
It takes the total on the year to 20 people, putting the city pace for a record 120 toxic drug deaths this year, breaking the old record of 92 set in 2022.
Across B.C, the BC Coroners Service says there were 177 such deaths last month, an average of 6.1 deaths a day. While the monthly total is down 11 per cent from the 199 deaths in February last year, it is still the 20th consecutive month that more than 175 people have died.
The coroners say toxic drugs is the leading cause of death in the province for those between 10 and 59 years old.
A statement released by the Public Safety Ministry says the overdose death rate in B.C. is still “significantly elevated,” with 40.1 drug deaths per 100,000 residents in the first two months of this year.
The statement says that’s double the rate seen in 2016, when the province first declared a public health emergency over toxic drug deaths and since then more than 14,200 people have died.
The ministry says fentanyl or other strong opioids were found in around 80 per cent of overdose deaths, along with other substances such as cocaine and methamphetamine, and the majority of deaths result from “mixed drug toxicity.”
You can find more information from the BC Coroners Service here.
– With files from The Canadian Press