Fentanyl a main cause in surge in B.C. drug deaths this year: coroner
VICTORIA — The latest statistics from British Columbia’s coroner’s office show a large increase in illicit drug overdoses in the province.
Statistics from the coroner’s service show there were 371 deaths in the first six months of this year, about a 74 per cent increase compared with the same period last year.
The service says the proportion of deaths where fentanyl was detected in toxicology tests jumped to about 60 per cent and that the drug was either used alone or in combination with other drugs.
It says fentanyl-detected deaths are occurring regularly around the province, and in the southern Interior and on Vancouver Island the death toll in the first five months this year has exceeded all of last year.