By Greg Fry

April another deadly month for overdoses in B.C.

Jun 7, 2018 | 11:19 AM

KAMLOOPS — B.C.’s deadly opioid crisis claimed another 124 lives in April — roughly four per day.

It’s an 18 per cent decrease over the numbers of deaths that occurred in April 2017 (151) and a 23 per cent decrease over the number of deaths that occurred in March 2018 (160).

Vancouver, Surrey and Victoria had the most drug deaths while Kamloops had five for a total of 17 so far in 2018.

“We continue to see the main trend that individuals aged 20 to 60 are accounting for nine in every 10 deaths, males four in every five deaths and we continue to try and share that message that those who are using illicit substances should not be using alone,” says Andy Watson, spokesperson with the BC Coroners Service. “The toxic drug supply is unsafe and we really need to make sure when using substances that somebody can either be able to administer Naloxone or call 9-1-1 for help.”

He adds illicit overdose deaths in Kamloops are on par with where we were last year.

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“And overall Kamloops and the Interior region generally is lower than what we’re seeing across the rest of the province.”

Watson says fentanyl continues to be a factor in most overdose deaths with the deadly drug detected in four of every five deaths.

Overall, overdoses have claimed 553 lives through the first four months of 2018.