According to new data from the BC Coroners Service, Northern Health saw seven deaths in May due to drug toxicity, with three of those deaths occurring in Prince George.
Provincially, the number of deaths in British Columbia due to drug toxicity decreased from near-record levels in April to 176 lives lost in the month of May.
While this is a 19 per cent decrease compared to the number of deaths reported in April, it equates to about 5.7 lives lost each day.
By heath authority the highest rates were in Vancouver Coastal Health (59 deaths per 100,000) and Northern Health (58 per 100,000). Overall, the rate in BC is 45 deaths per 100,000 individuals.
So far in 2023, there have been 31 deaths recorded in Prince George and 74 throughout the Northern Health region (6 in the northeast, 43 in the northern interior, and 25 in the northwest).
"BC Coroners Service findings confirm that this public-health emergency continues to be driven by illicit fentanyl," said Lisa Lapointe, chief coroner.
"Expedited testing in 2023 is positive for fentanyl in almost nine out of every 10 results, nearly double the positivity rate of methamphetamine and cocaine, the next most commonly identified substances. As long as people are reliant on the profit-driven unregulated market to access the substances they need, their lives are at risk."
In response to increased interest in the impacts of the ongoing public-health emergency on young people in B.C., the Coroners Service has also released a report focused on unregulated drug toxicity deaths among youth.
It found that of the 10,453 toxic drug deaths reported to coroners between 2017 and 2022, there were 142 deaths of people under the age of 19.
Seven of those deaths occurred in the Northern Health region.
"We know that young people are not immune from the extreme dangers of the unregulated drug supply," Lapointe said.
"In responding to this health crisis, it is critically important that we heed the recommendations of experts and ensure a robust system of care that includes increased access to timely, evidence-based treatment and recovery services, and to a safer substance supply as an alternative to the toxic black market. A public-health crisis of this magnitude demands a comprehensive response that meets people where they are and provides the services they need to survive."
