Kamloops drug overdose deaths already more than double 2015 total

Jun 9, 2016 | 11:24 AM

KAMLOOPS — New statistics from the BC Coroners Service show Kamloops has been one of the hardest hit communities in the entire province by the explosion in drug overdose deaths.

From January through the end of May, 18 people have died in Kamloops after overdosing on illicit drugs.

That compares to just seven such deaths all of last year.

Coroners Service Spokesperson Barb McLintock says across the province, there have been 308 overdose deaths so far in 2016.

“That’s a 75 per cent increase over the number of deaths during that same five months last year. Last years there was 176 deaths during that time period, so that’s a big, big increase. We also still want people to remember that last year was a 25 per cent increase over the year before,” said McLintock.

McLintock adds the numbers are relatively steady in the Lower Mainland, but have skyrocketed in the Interior and on Vancouver Island.

“We sort of thought of the huge illicit drug overdose problem as being mainly, although certainly never totally, related more to the Lower Mainland. What we have seen in the last six to eight months, is that the problem seems to be spreading rather quickly into the Interior and also to Vancouver Island.” 

“Nobody seems to know why. Obviously the increase in proportion in which fentynl is detected is one large part of it, but still only 56 per cent are fentanyl related. Which means that 44 per cent of them, almost half, aren’t fentanyl related. People are dying of a lot of different illicit drugs.”

“The reason we exist is in the hopes of preventing deaths, and preventing future deaths in similar circumstances, and these deaths are not being prevented.” 

B.C.’s public health officer declared a health emergency in April due to the soaring numbers of drug-related deaths in the province.

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