A record 58 people died from drug overdoses in Prince George during 2020, according to numbers issued Thursday by the B.C. Coroners Service.
The count is more than double the 25 deaths recorded in 2019 and eclipses the previous record of 51 seen in 2018.
The jump is part of a province-wide trend that saw 1,716 deaths - a 74 per cent increase over 2019.
Chief coroner Lisa Lapointe said harm reduction measures, such as overdose prevention sites, were starting to have an effect in 2019, but the COVID-19 pandemic drove people back inside their homes where they use drugs alone.
She said most people dying are males in private homes, and it's not just limited to any one area but is happening in communities across the province.
B.C. declared a public health emergency in 2016 after a significant increase in overdose deaths caused by powerful opioids, including the synthetic drug fentanyl.
Lapointe said it's time to decriminalize the simple possession of drugs so that public health officials can reduce the harm and stigma associated with substance use.
"We know that decades of this punishing and stigmatizing approach have brought us to the devastating place we're in today," she said.
She also said essential harm reduction services must continue to be available for people who use illicit substances, including overdose prevention sites and access to the life-saving drug naloxone.
A safe supply of pharmaceutical alternatives is also essential, she said, and doctors and nurses must be encouraged to prescribe them to patients.
Further, a regulated, accessible system of treatment and recovery must be available across the province to ensure that help is there when people are looking for it, without wait times, she added.
Sheila Malcolmson, minister of mental health and addictions, said the province wants to see a national approach to decriminalization, but failing that, she has asked federal Health Minister Patty Hajdu to consider a provincial exemption.
Decriminalization is a vital step toward saving lives because it helps reduce stigma as a barrier for treatment, she said.
"Whether it's Canada-wide or in B.C., it is in the federal government's power to act," she said at a news conference Thursday.
Across Northern Health, there were 132 such deaths, more than double the 67 seen in 2019. On a per capita basis, the region was home to the greatest number at 46 per 100,000 - compared to 39 in Vancouver Coast, home to the second-highest count. At 46.6 per 100,000,
Prince George was home to the fourth highest total among local health areas while Quesnel was 10th at 39.8.
- with files from Canadian Press
