The BC Coroners Service says toxic drugs claimed the lives of six Kamloops residents in the month of April.

That takes the total number of deaths this year to 34 people – an average of 8.5 a month – putting the City on pace for a record 102 deaths this year.

Across B.C., the Coroners say there were 182 people who died of toxic drug poisoning in April, taking the total to 763 people this year.

While April’s numbers are down 24 per cent from last year, the Coroners say the risk posed by unregulated drug supply remains very high.

“Fentanyl continues to be the primary driver of unregulated toxic-drug deaths in 2024, detected in 82 per cent of toxicological test results,” the Coroners said, in a statement. “Investigations confirm that substances were consumed through smoking in nearly three-quarters of the deaths in April.”

April also marked eight years since B.C. declared a public health emergency with 14,582 people losing their lives to toxic drugs since then.

The Coroners statement says about 70 per cent of the people who died in April were male and the death rate for females has nearly doubled since 2020, from about 13 to 23 per 100,000 in 2024.

“We’re taking action to build up services that we know work for people and we’ll continue to look for more ways to connect people to the care they need,” Minister of Mental Health and Addictions Jennifer Whiteside, said in a separate statement.

“Because for as many pathways as there are into addiction, we need just as many pathways toward healing and recovery.”

The latest numbers released Thursday come a day after Premier David Eby announced the appointment of Dr. Daniel Vigo as the province’s first chief scientific adviser for psychiatry, toxic drugs and concurrent disorders.

Vigo’s role focuses on improving the care for people with overlapping mental-health and addiction issues and brain injuries from toxic-drug poisoning.

Eby said on Wednesday that some of the people who survive overdoses are left with life-altering brain injuries that affect their ability to function.

He said patients with overlapping needs who live and get care in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside often suffer repeated health emergencies.

The premier said 612 patients went to emergency rooms 10 times or more last year, including one person who made 180 visits.

You can find more information from the BC Coroners Service here.

 

– With files from The Canadian Press