2021 is now B.C.'s deadliest year in the opioid crisis, with 2 months of data left to collect

Vancouver -

With weeks left to go, 2021 is already the deadliest year in B.C.'s nearly six-year-long opioid crisis, the latest data on illicit drug overdoses suggests.

Information released Thursday from the province's chief coroner showed there were 201 suspected illicit drug overdoses in October, the highest-ever number of deaths recorded in a single month.

It equates to an average of about 6.5 deaths each day of the month.

The October update brings the total death toll this year to 1,782. According to Chief Coroner Lisa Lapointe, it's the highest number of deaths ever recorded in a calendar year in B.C., and there are still two months of data left to collect.

Prior to the latest update, last year was B.C.'s deadliest, with 1,716 deaths out of 41,150 total being attributed to illicit drug overdose. In 2019, there were 984.

"Though we talk about numbers, the reality is that we are talking about people," Lapointe said in a news conference in Victoria Thursday morning.

"These are terribly difficult days, and it is so disheartening to see so many lives cut short despite the many heartfelt efforts being made to help."

Visibly emotional, Lapointe said, "Simply put, however, we are failing."

The chief coroner's monthly report summarizes overdoses in B.C. due to heroin, cocaine, MDMA, methamphetamine and other street drugs, including illicit fentanyl, which is often a factor in overdoses.

The report also includes deaths due to medications not obtained by prescription but instead purchased on the street, and combinations of those categories.

So far this year, the potent opioid fentanyl and its analogues have been a factor in about 84 per cent of deaths, compared to 10 years ago when it was noted in only about five per cent of deaths.

Extreme concentrations of fentanyl are becoming more common in post-mortem testing results, Lapointe said, as are benzodiazepines and stimulants including methamphetamine.

"All of this makes it clear that the illicit drug market is increasingly dangerous, and those relying on it are of significant risk of harm and death," she said.

Overdose due to illicit drugs became the leading cause of unnatural deaths in B.C. in 2016, at which time the province declared a public health emergency that is still in place to this day.

"According to the B.C. Centre for Disease Control, drug toxicity comes second only to cancers in terms of total potential years of life lost in our province," Lapointe said.

"By comparison, COVID-19 is 12th."

The death rate has nearly doubled since then, sitting at 41.2 deaths per 100,000 residents. More than 70 per cent of deaths are among those aged 30 to 59 – the median age is 43. Most people who have died were men.

Since the start of the official public health emergency in April 2016, more than 8,500 people have died.

In an effort to prevent deaths by reducing the stigma and encouraging treatment, not punishment, for those with substance addiction disorder, the province recently applied to the federal government to decriminalize possession of hard drugs for personal use.

B.C.'s chief coroner is also pushing for improved access to a safe supply of these drugs to reduce fatalities.

In a statement, Lapointe called Thursday's news a "heart-rending milestone" for B.C.

While certain areas are seeing higher numbers of deaths, including Vancouver, Surrey and Victoria, Lapointe has stressed previously that the crisis is impacting residents across B.C.

"I cannot stress enough how urgent this emergency has become," Lapointe said.

Minister of Mental Health and Addictions Sheila Malcolmson addressed the report later Thursday morning, saying, "This year continues to be terribly painful, and October was particularly tragic."

She said she sympathizes with the loved ones of those who've died, and that "almost every person in this province" knows someone whose life was cut short.

Malcolmson said the NDP government is following "many pathways out" of addiction, including increasing overdose prevention and safe consumption sites and prescribing safe supply options.

"Nothing can lessen the tragedy of each life lost, and yet, because of these measures B.C.'s taken, thousands of lives have been saved," she said.

Malcolmson described recent investments in mental health and addictions programs as "historic," but acknowledged there is more work to be done.

"There's no question, the progress we've made – while it is progress – is not enough… We are swimming against a rising tide of need, and these investments have not yet outpaced surges in illicit drug toxicity spurred by the pandemic."

Malcolmson promised more action, with the goal of all British Columbians being able to access the care they need, when and where they need it.