Record number of January overdoses in BC

Following a record-setting year in 2020, the BC Coroners Service reports 165 suspected illicit drug toxicity deaths in January 2021, the largest ever number of lives lost due to illicit drugs in the first month of a calendar year.

“These figures are heartbreaking, both in scale and for the number of families who are grieving the loss of a loved one,” said Lisa Lapointe, chief coroner, BC Coroners Service. “In the fifth year of this public health emergency, there is virtually no community in the province that hasn’t been touched by this devastating loss of life.”

An average of 5.3 lives were lost each day in January due to the toxic drug supply in B.C., a death rate of 38.1 per 100,000 residents. January is also the 10th consecutive month in which more than 100 deaths were attributed to suspected illicit drug toxicity.

The Interior Health Authority confirmed 23 illicit drug deaths in January. The Interior saw 29 deaths in December, 35 in November and 33 in October. The 23 deaths are the lowest number since September 2020.

Broken down further the Thompson Cariboo Health Service Delivery area, which includes Merritt, recorded six deaths in January. Six deaths were also confirmed in December.

The Coroners Service also announced that Merritt recorded two illicit drug deaths in all of 2020.

Almost one in five of the suspected deaths (18%) in January noted extreme levels of fentanyl concentrations (greater than 50 micrograms/litre), the largest number recorded to date. Additionally, there were 14 deaths in which carfentanil, a more lethal analogue of fentanyl, was detected, an increase from the December total of nine and the largest monthly figure since May 2019.