Kamloops loses eight more lives due to illicit drugs in June; B.C. surpasses 1,000 deaths in 2022

In 2022, 76 lives in the Thompson Cariboo health service delivery area have been lost due to toxic drugs; 11 of those took place in June. The Thompson Cariboo has a death rate of 62.3 per 100,000 people, down from 62.9. However, it’s still one of the highest death rates in B.C., and on pace to surpass the record rate of 61.9 in 2021.

Interior Health recorded 29 deaths in May for a year-to-date total of 178.

Provincially, 146 lives were lost due to the toxic drug supply in May for a year-to-date total of 1,095.

Chief Coroner Lisa Lapointe says B.C. is still on pace to lose another record number of lives due to illicit drugs in 2022.

“Tragically, in the seventh year of this public heath emergency, as we are experiencing increasing numbers of deaths in July, our province has now lost more than 10,000 lives to illicit drugs since April 2016,” Lapointe says. “As recommended by the subject matter experts on the recent Death Review Panel, it is imperative that we urgently provide access to safer supply across our province. It’s only when we drastically reduce people’s reliance on the profit-driven, illicit drug trade, that we will save lives and turn the trajectory of this crisis around.”

B.C. became the first province in Canada to remove criminal penalties for possession of certain hard drugs for personal use.

by Aaron Schulze

Kamloops loses eight more lives due to illicit drugs in June; B.C. surpasses 1,000 deaths in 2022

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