B.C. illicit drug deaths reach an 'unprecedented and terrifying rate': chief coroner

More people died of illicit drug overdose in British Columbia in February 2022 than ever before for that month, according to the provincial coroners service.

In a just-released report, the service said there were 174 deaths suspected to be due to illicit drug toxicity. The toll is one higher than that of February 2021, making it the deadliest February on record in the crisis.

It is a decrease, however, from January 2022, when 208 people died. Tuesday's update brings the number of overdose deaths so far in 2022 to 382, and data is only available for the first two months of the year.

This data brings the toll since the start of the public health crisis, in 2016, to 9,410 lives, and it makes February the 17th month in a row in which more than 150 people have died of illicit drug toxicity.

"We are continuing to lose members of our community at an unprecedented and terrifying rate," Chief Coroner Lisa Lapointe said in a statement through the Ministry of Public Safety.

The February toll equates to an average of 6.2 people dying every day of that month, the majority of whom were men between the ages of 30 and 59.

"The deaths of another 174 B.C. residents, so many of them young and middle-aged men with years of life ahead of them is yet another reminder that urgent action is needed on a provincewide scale. I extend my deepest sympathy to the families, friends and communities who are grieving the loss of a loved one," Lapointe said.

The B.C. Coroners Service noted that the overdose rate of people aged 18 and under was up that month, though still relatively low at six deaths so far this year. But, the BCCS pointed out, it's higher than the zero deaths of people in this age group the month before.

The rate of death in females was also up, while male illicit drug deaths were down.

The BCCS said the cities seeing the highest number of deaths are among the province's most populated: Vancouver and Surrey, as well as Victoria.

Nearly two-thirds of people who died lived in the Vancouver Coastal and Fraser Health areas – again, the province's most populated.

But looking at death rates by health area, Northern Health has been most impacted. The rate for the region is now 63 deaths per 100,000 individuals, compared to the provincial rate of 44 per 100,000.

As is often the case, most people who died were not on sidewalks or streets but indoors in private residences. Fifty-six per cent of deaths occurred in private homes, compared to 29 per cent in residences such as social housing and single-room-occupancy (SRO) hotels. Another 13 per cent of deaths were outside, whether in vehicles and parks, on streets and sidewalks or elsewhere.

No deaths have been reported at supervised consumption or overdose prevention sites, the BCCS said, and there is nothing to suggest safer supply programs – heavily encouraged by B.C.'s chief coroner – have contributed to the death toll.

As she often does, Lapointe used the February update as an opportunity to push for such programs, saying she understands the concept is difficult for some to understand, but that it's the best way to save the lives of those who currently turn to the "profit-driven, chaotic illicit drug market."

As for what the province is doing, the minister of mental health and addiction was in the Fraser Valley on Tuesday visiting complex-care housing that launched in January.

Minister Sheila Malcolmson touted the $164-million investment outlined in the 2022 provincial budget, for up to new 500 spaces over three years for those with complex mental-health and substance-use challenges, as well as those who are homeless.

"For too long, people with complex mental-health and addiction needs were left behind, often leading to a cycle of eviction, homelessness, emergency rooms and sometimes jail," Malcolmson said.

She called the latest overdose numbers "heartbreaking," and pledged again that the NDP government will do more to reduce the toll.

Among the trends noted in the coroners service's examination of deaths in February was a "rapid" increase of the amount of benzodiazepines in the street drug supply.

Noted in previous announcements, the presence of benzos is troubling as the drugs can block the live-saving effects of the overdose antidote naloxone. According to the BCCS, benzos were found in 15 per cent of samples in July 2020. By February of this year, the drugs were found in 43 per cent of samples.

Also being found increasingly in the province's street supply is the benzodiazepine analogue etizolam, which also doesn't respond to naloxone. The non-opioid sedative was found in 41 per cent of illicit drug toxicity deaths where there has been expedited toxicological testing, the coroners service said. The presence of analogue carfentanil is also being monitored by the BCCS.

Data collected over the last two years suggests the most common drugs in these types of overdoses are fentanyl (85 per cent), cocaine (46 per cent), methamphetamine/amphetamine (42 per cent) and other opioids (23 per cent).

The latest data included that extreme concentrations of the potent opioid fentanyl were found in more than 20 per cent of deaths associated with the drug.

"Fentanyl continues to be the predominant substance found in post-mortem testing," a news release from the BCCS said. It was found in the bodies of 85 per cent of people who died in 2021.

As has been the case for sometime, illicit drugs are by far the leading cause of unnatural deaths in B.C.

Last year, a record-breaking 2,232 people died from illicit drugs, up from the previous record in 2020 of 1,767 people.

Initially 2,224 deaths were reported in 2021, but as investigations were closed, the toll increased.