Report finds increase in drug toxicity deaths among young adults

Fraser health officials are reporting an increase in drug toxicity deaths among young adults, women, and South Asian men in the region.

The report Friday comes as B.C. saw its worst month for overdose deaths in May, with 160 deaths.

Fraser Health’s chief medical health officer Dr. Martin Lavoie and his team reviewed medical charts of 105 people who died from illicit drug toxicity in the region in 2017 and 2018.

They found that while males between the ages of 19 and 59 continue to account for the largest number of fatal and non-fatal illicit drug overdoses, the data show increased overdose fatality rates among young adults, women and South Asian men.

The number of drug toxicity deaths among South Asian people in the region increased by 255 per cent between 2015 and 2018, compared with a 138 per cent increase in deaths among other residents of Fraser Health, the report said.

Two-thirds who died were under the age of 40, 43 per cent were working, 51 per cent may have had a mental illness and 45 per cent experienced a conflict with friends, family or intimate partners the year before their deaths.

Alcohol was the most commonly documented substance among this group, followed by opioids and cocaine.

Among young people, the drug toxicity death rate for those between 19 and 29 years old in B.C. increased from 28.7 per 100,000 people in 2016 to 40.4 per 100,000 in 2018.

The average age was 25, and 80 per cent were male. The report says 69 per cent showed evidence of a mental health condition.