Of the many hundreds of lives lost to toxic drugs from January to March, 22 of the 596 in B.C. were in Chilliwack so far in 2023.
Those 22 deaths due to a “toxic, unregulated” drug supply represent four per cent of the B.C. total - and put Chilliwack on pace for a terrible year.
For comparison, Abbotsford saw 20 such deaths or three per cent of the year-to-date fatalities in B.C., Surrey had nine per cent with 55 deaths, while Langley reported 11 deaths or two per cent, according to the ‘townships of injury’ table in the report.
Despite the province declaring a public-health emergency seven years ago this month, the “toxic, unregulated drug supply” continues to kill in record numbers, according to the report by the BC Coroners Service.
“On April 14, we once again observed the anniversary of the longest public-health emergency in our province’s history,” said chief coroner Lisa Lapointe.
Since the emergency was first declared, more than 11,000 people have died.
”This is a crisis of incomprehensible scale, and I extend my deepest condolences to everyone who has experienced the loss of someone they loved.”
The 596 lives lost between January and March is the second-highest total ever recorded in the first three months of a calendar year, behind only 2022 (599 lives lost). The total number of deaths equates to a provincewide death rate of 44.1 deaths per 100,000 population.
Unregulated drug toxicity continues to be the leading cause of unnatural death in British Columbia, accounting for more deaths than homicides, suicides, motor vehicle incidents, drownings and fire-related deaths combined.
“There is no indication that prescribed safe supply is contributing to the unregulated drug deaths.”
By health authority, in 2023, the highest number of such deaths were in Vancouver Coastal and Fraser Health Authorities (190 and 161 deaths, respectively), making up 59 per cent of all such deaths during 2023.
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