No new toxic drug related deaths in Merritt for July

There were no new toxic drug related deaths in the Merritt area in July, however the numbers continue to rise throughout the province following of the official report from the B.C. Coroner’s Office released on Friday.

It’s the second straight month that there were no reported deaths to due to illegal drugs in the city keeping the number to three in 2024.  In 2023, there were six deaths due to the toxic drug supply.

Overall, B.C. saw 192 suspected unregulated drug deaths in July, pushing the year-to-date total to 1365.

There were 35 deaths recorded in the Interior Health for a year-to-date total of 226 deaths.

B.C. deadliest year was in 2023 when 2,546 drug  fatalities were recorded.