At least 198 deaths in January are suspected to have been caused by toxic unregulated drugs, says the BC Coroners Service, representing a 10 percent decrease from December 2023.
That number equates to about 6.4 lives lost per day, and seven out of every 10 were between 30 and 59 years of age, and more than three-quarters were male.
12 of those deaths were in Prince George, following 95 deaths for all of 2023. In the Peace Region, a total of 32 deaths were reported by the end of 2023, 19 in Peace River North and 13 in Peace River South.
Of the 198 British Columbians who died last month from overdoses, only two other cities reported higher numbers than Prince George.
Vancouver had 41 overdose deaths and Surrey had 19, while Kamloops had 11, Greater Victoria had nine and Kelowna had eight.
Of the five health regions in B.C., Northern Health had the highest January rate of overdoses (81 deaths per 100,000 people) and the Northern Interior was the most deadly health service delivery area.
With a dozen deaths in Prince George, the city is on a grim record pace. By comparison, the city had 89 deaths in all of 2023, 83 in 2022, 55 in 2021, 59 in 2020 and 25 in 2019.
Looking at nearby local health areas in 2023, two people died in 100 Mile House, six in Burns Lake, 13 in the Cariboo, 13 in Quesnel, and six in Smithers.
At least 14,024 British Columbians have been killed by unregulated drugs since the public-health emergency was first declared in April 2016.
