The BC Coroners Service says that from January to August of this year, 488 people died from illicit drug overdoses in the province, an increase of 61.6 per cent from the same period last year. August was the second month in a row to see a slight dip in overdose deaths, following the 55 recorded in July and 62 in June.
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Officials also confirmed fentanyl continues to be a contributing factor in the majority of fatal overdoses.
She said 264 people have died from January to the end of August as a result of taking fentanyl with another drug, mostly cocaine, up from 82 deaths a year ago. That’s more than three times the 82 fentanyl-related deaths that occurred over the same period past year.
“We need more data, more time to see if there’s a trend happening”.
“Illicit drug overdoses have affected far too many of BC’s families”, says Health Minister Terry Lake.
The province on Wednesday released the first in a series of video public service announcements, which will appear in a range of media in the coming weeks.
A new video features Leslie McBain, founder of the support group Moms Stop the Harm, who lost her son Jordan to an overdose.
And a glimmer of good news for Northern BC: just one death last month brought the region’s total on the year to 30.
Yesterday the province approved the College of Pharmacists of B.C. request to amend to deregulate and unschedule emergency use naloxone.
This means health care sites, treatment centres and community agencies can carry and sell naloxone.
“So people have been reaching out to British Columbia to learn about what we’re doing”, he said. “People with long histories of drug use are overdosing as are people trying drugs for the very first time”. “This kind of thoughtful, collaborative and non-judgemental approach will be key to resolving this crisis and helping those struggling with addictions”.
That public health emergency was declared province-wide earlier this year following an uptick in overdose deaths, many of them linked to drugs laced with the powerful opioid fentanyl.
Now his task force is working on bringing together all the disparate parts of the health system to build up a continuous system of care for people with addictions, he said.
The Take Home Naloxone program has been significantly expanded, with 13,746 no-charge naloxone kits dispensed, and reports of 2,149 kits used to reverse opioid overdoses.
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Over 11,000 people have received training to administer naloxone, which is available at over 300 sites in B.C. including emergency rooms, three jails and one prison, he said.
