Overdose deaths in B.C. lead to calls for safer supply of street drugs

VICTORIA British Columbia’s chief coroner says 175 people fatally overdosed in July, almost matching the 177 in June as access to harm-reduction services such as a safer supply of drugs remains a challenge.

Chief coroner Lisa Lapointe says a disruption in the typical supply of drugs due to border closures has led to the trafficking of substances with extreme concentrations of illicit fentanyl.

“The number of people dying in B.C. due to an unsafe drug supply continues to surpass deaths due to homicides, motor vehicle incidents, suicides and COVID-19 combined,” Lapointe stated. “This health emergency continues to take a tragic toll on people from all walks of life and in all communities of the province.”

July’s death toll is a 136-per-cent increase over the 74 deaths during the same month last year.

“What the latest numbers show us is that the overdose crisis has been made worse by the COVID -19 pandemic and the unprecedented tragedy of death and loss to families in our province continues,” said Dr. Bonnie Henry, B.C.’S health officer, in a statement Tuesday.

B.C. set a monthly overdose record in May, when 174 people died.

Almost 6,000 people have fatally overdosed in the province since 2015 before a provincial health emergency that is still in effect was declared by the province in 2016.

There have been 909 illicit drug deaths to date in 2020 in B.C., and the number of deaths in each health authority is at or near the highest monthly totals ever recorded, according to a news release. The number of non-fatal overdose incidents is also increasing, with a record high of more than 2,700 calls reported by B.C. Emergency Health Services (BCEHS) in July.