British Columbia has recorded its highest number of illicit-drug-overdose deaths ever in a single month, reaching the grim milestone in May.
The sa国际传媒 Coroners Service said 170 people died from illicit-drug overdoses in May, the equivalent of 5.5 deaths per day.
The previous monthly high was 161 illicit-drug-toxicity deaths in December 2016.
More sa国际传媒 residents died from drug overdoses last month than have died from the COVID-19 virus this year. In sa国际传媒 this year, there have been 554 drug-overdose deaths, versus 167 deaths due to COVID-19.
Island Health recorded 38 illicit-drug-toxicity deaths in May, its highest monthly total since the opioid crisis began. Its previous high was 28 illicit-drug deaths in January and March 2018.
Since January, 98 drug-overdose deaths have been recorded by Island Health, including 54 on the South Island, 32 deaths on central Vancouver Island and 12 deaths on northern Vancouver Island.
Chief coroner Lisa Lapointe said the federal government should take bold action on the overdose epidemic as it has done with COVID-19.
鈥淵ou can鈥檛 help but draw the parallel that far more lives have been lost to substance use than to the pandemic,鈥� Lapointe said in an interview on Thursday.
There have been nearly 4,500 overdose deaths in sa国际传媒 since the province declared a public health emergency. Illicit-drug-toxicity death rates in sa国际传媒 are the highest for any jurisdiction in sa国际传媒, and every region in sa国际传媒 has been affected.
Many of the deaths are related to COVID-19 measures that have kept people away from supervised-consumption sites, so they end up using toxic drugs alone.
鈥淢any of those who died lived alone and, in fact, weren鈥檛 found for some time,鈥� Lapointe said.
She said the usual drug supply chains have been disrupted by border closures during the pandemic, creating opportunities for those who might be producing more powerful illicit substances without much knowledge.
鈥淚f it鈥檚 not in an actual lab then it might be in somebody鈥檚 kitchen lab,鈥� she said.
Post-mortem toxicology suggests the increase in deaths is due to extreme fentanyl concentrations in the illicit-drug supply. (Extreme concentration means fentanyl exceeding 50 micrograms per litre.)
In April and May, about 19 per cent of drug-death cases involved extreme fentanyl concentrations, compared with nine per cent between January 2019 and
March 2020, the coroners service reported.
Carfentanyl has been detected in six illicit drug deaths this year.
The drug supply is unpredictable and highly toxic, which has led to an increase in overdoses from smoking and injection in recent months, said Dr. Jane Buxton, harm-reduction lead for the sa国际传媒 Centre for Disease Control. 鈥淐OVID-19 has added challenges and people may be feeling more isolated and anxious, but it鈥檚 important to continue to buddy up, or access local overdose-prevention and supervised-consumption services during this time.鈥�
Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said the COVID-19 pandemic in the midst of an overdose crisis has overwhelmed the province鈥檚 resources. Henry renewed her call for decriminalization of people who possess small amounts of drugs for their personal use.
鈥淚 believe we have ways within sa国际传媒 that we can have de facto decriminalization and some of those we see already in place where people don鈥檛 face criminal charges, they may face administrative issues.
鈥淭hey may actually get the support that they need to understand the issues that led them to use drugs in the first place.鈥�
The public safety minister and the solicitor general have been considering the issue, which also involves the federal government, she said.
鈥淲e do want action at the federal level and I鈥檝e been calling for that and will continue that call today for action at all levels.鈥�
Vancouver, Surrey and Victoria are experiencing the highest number of illicit-drug deaths this year.
