Almost 600 lives were lost due to toxic street drugs in the first three months of 2023, second only to the first three months of 2022 where 599 people died. (File photo)

By Jordan Davidson

drug deaths

Nanaimo trails only Victoria for Vancouver Island toxic drug deaths

Apr 18, 2023 | 4:05 PM

NANAIMO — The deadly trend of toxic drugs killing people on Vancouver Island continues to worsen.

In the first three months of the year 596 lives were lost in the first three months of the year in BC., making it the second-highest total ever in that time frame, behind only 2022, where 599 lives were lost.

Central Vancouver Island, encompassing communities the width of Vancouver Island from the Malahat to north of Qualicum Beach, had 18 deaths in Jan. and Feb., and 17 in March.

That’s a total of 53 deaths in the region in the first three months of the year, compared to 37 in the south and 26 in the north.

Toxic drugs resulted in the deaths of 33 people in the Nanaimo area from January through March, second only to the Victoria area which saw 35 people die from illicit drug use.

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Twelve fatalities were linked to toxic drugs in the Greater Nanaimo region in January.

“On April 14, we once again observed the anniversary of the longest public-health emergency in our province’s history,” said Lisa Lapointe, chief coroner. “Since the emergency was first declared, more than 11,000 people have lost their lives due to the unregulated drug supply. This is a crisis of incomprehensible scale, and I extend my deepest condolences to everyone who has experienced the loss of someone they loved.”

Province-wide, there were 177 deaths in Feb. and 197 in March.

March represents a nine per cent increase over the number of deaths in March of 2022 (181), while Feb. saw an 11 per cent increase in the number of deaths compared to Feb. 2022.

By health service delivery area the highest rates of death were in Vancouver, northwestern B.C., northern Vancouver Island, northern Interior, and central Vancouver Island for 2023.

Of those deaths, 71 per cent were people between the ages of 30-59, with 77 per cent of them being male, which has been a familiar trend throughout the drug toxicity crisis.

There was one death at an overdose prevention site this year, with one also recorded in 2022, according the coroner’s report.

In Nanaimo, an upgraded supervised consumption site opened in December 2022.

More information on the province’s latest report on toxic drug deaths from the BC Coroners Service can be found here.

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jordan@nanaimonewsnow.com

On Twitter: @JordanDHeyNow