Overdose deaths up in Interior Health Authority, down provincially

May 15, 2019 | 10:40 AM

There’s been a significant decrease so far this year in the number of people dying from overdose in British Columbia.

New numbers from the BC Coroners Service show there were 104 suspected overdose deaths in March 2019 — a 34 per cent decrease from March 2018.

However, this March’s numbers make up a 42 per cent increase over the number of deaths in February.

Image Credit: BC Coroners Service

The Interior Health Authority has the second-highest rate of overdose deaths, with 23 deaths per 100,000 individuals.

In March, there were 23 overdose deaths in the Interior Health Authority. That’s compared to 10 deaths in February, and 19 in March 2018.

There have been no deaths at any supervised consumption or overdose prevention sites in the province.

The BC Coroners Service says fentanyl was detected in roughly 85 per cent of overdose deaths so far this year, compared to 87 per cent in 2018.

“Carfentanil has been detected in 64 suspected illicit drug overdose deaths in 2019 and 35 deaths in 2018,” the service states.

From January to March of this year, Kamloops has seen 12 overdose deaths. In all of 2018 there were 47 overdose deaths in the city.

by Ashley Legassic