File photo (Image credit: CFJC Today).

By Aaron Schulze

Toxic Drug Crisis

Kamloops loses eight lives in July due to toxic drug crisis

Aug 31, 2024 | 10:30 AM

KAMLOOPS — Kamloops lost eight more lives due to the toxic drug crisis.

New figures through July released Friday (Aug. 30) by the BC Coroners Service show 53 deaths due to toxic drugs in Kamloops as of July 2024, up from 45 as of June.

Kamloops is on pace to lose 91 lives due to drug toxicity in 2024. It would be the community’s second deadliest record, just shy of 92 fatalities in 2022.

Overall, B.C. saw 192 suspected unregulated drug deaths in July, pushing the year-to-date total to 1,365. Thirty-five of those deaths were recorded in Interior Health for a year-to-date total of 226.

By health service delivery area, the coroners service says the Thompson Cariboo Shuswap has lost 84 lives in 2024 for a death rate of 55.0 per 100,000 residents.

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“Unregulated toxic drugs continue to cause more loss of life in British Columbia than homicides, motor-vehicle incidents, suicides and natural disease combined, tragically equating to about 6.2 people losing their lives each day,” Dr. Jatinder Baidwan,B.C.’s chief coroner says. “The unregulated drug market is volatile and continues to put people’s lives at grave risk each month.”

B.C.’s deadliest record is 2,546 drug fatalities in one year in 2023.

The coroners service’s figures can be viewed here.

Saturday, Aug. 31 is International Overdose Awareness Day. In Kamloops, an event will start at 12:00 p.m. at the Hope installation in Riverside Park.