NANAIMO — Toxic drug deaths in British Columbia in September were down about 19 per cent from the same month last year, continuing a pattern that has seen deaths this year fall to the lowest levels since before the COVID-19 pandemic.
That’s according to the latest report from the BC Coroners Service, which said four people in Nanaimo died in September due to the unregulated drug supply, part of 133 people province-wide, equating to about 4.4 deaths per day.
Across Vancouver Island, 27 people died in September, for a current total of 232, with 56 of those happening in Nanaimo so far this year, down slightly from the 53 deaths recorded by this time last year.
The September death toll is up from the 113 deaths reported in both May and July this year, representing the lowest numbers of monthly fatalities in B.C. since 2019.
Central Vancouver Island had some of the highest rates of death per health service delivery area at 48.4 deaths per 100,000 people, with the Northern Interior the most at 57 deaths, 47.1 deaths in Vancouver, 41 deaths in the Fraser East, and 37.8 deaths per 100,000 people in the Kootenay Boundary.
The latest report said 70 per cent of deaths were between the ages of 30 and 59, and 76 per cent were male.
The majority (78 per cent) of those deaths occurred inside, while 20 per cent occurred outside in places such as vehicles, sidewalks, parks, or on the street.
Fluorofentanyl, a potent synthetic opioid and analogue of fentanyl, has become more commonly detected than fentanyl for the first time this year, present in 68 per cent of those who have undergone expedited toxicology testing, compared to 50 per cent containing fentanyl.
So far this year, 1,143 British Columbians have died due to toxic drugs, compared to 1,399 deaths by this time last year, and down 40 per cent compared to the same months in 2023 at the peak of the crisis when 2,591 people died.
— With files from the Canadian Press.
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