Toxic drug deaths drop across province in April, including substantial dip in Nanaimo area

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Sixty-nine toxic drug related deaths have been reported in the wider central Vancouver Island region in the first four months, according to the BCCS.

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Fentanyl remains a potent killer, with the synthetic opioid detected in 82 per cent of those who’ve died from toxic drugs province-wide in the first four months of 2024.

Evidence of smoking drugs was found in 71 per cent of toxic drug fatalities in B.C. so far this year.

In the first four months of this year, 69 per cent of those who died from toxic drugs were between the ages of 30 and 59, with 71 per cent being male, according to the BCCS.

With 763 deaths in B.C. believed to be toxic drug related in the first five months of the year, the number of deaths from the crisis is not expected to increase from the previous year for the first time since 2019.

A record of more than 2,500 British Columbians died from toxic drugs last year, including a record 112 in the Nanaimo area.

The toxic drug crises has claimed 14,582 people in the province since a public health emergency was declared in April 2016, according to the BCCS.

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