Nanaimo and central Vancouver Island saw a substantial drop in deaths linked to drug toxicity in January, according to new data published by the BC Coroner's Service. (Jonathan Hayward/The Canadian Press)

By NanaimoNewsNOW Staff

big drop

Nanaimo’s toxic drug deaths drop sharply to start 2025

Mar 14, 2025 | 12:44 PM

NANAIMO — Fewer people are losing their lives to drug toxicity than in recent years.

New data from the BC Coroner’s Service showed two people from Nanaimo lost their lives to toxic drugs in January, a massive reduction from the average in years past.

During record-setting years in 2023 and 2024, Nanaimo’s average number of fatalities per month was between eight and 10 people, a period which over 200 people died locally from overdose and drug toxicity.

Across central Vancouver Island, which includes all communities between the Comox Valley and the Malahat, just eight fatalities were recorded by the Coroner as being linked directly to drug toxicity, a drop from the 21 recorded in January 2024.

Similar deaths dropped by more than half throughout all of Island Health, with 21 reported in the first month of the year, compared to the 45 in each of the previous two January’s (2023 and 2024).

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The reduced toxic drug deaths follows a noted reduction from late in 2024.

“Though January marks the fourth consecutive month in which the number of deaths reported to the BC Coroners Service attributed to unregulated drug toxicity was below 160, certain areas of the province saw an increase,” a statement from the Coroner’s office read.

Fraser Health and Interior Health both saw increases in their numbers, while Vancouver, Surrey and Greater Victoria saw the most number of fatalities linked to toxic drugs.

Province-wide, 152 people died in January from drug-related causes.

A majority (79 per cent) were men, while around two-thirds of recorded fatalities (68 per cent) were in working-age adults aged 30 to 59 years old.

The BC Coroners Service said three deaths were reported in children under the age of 18, but did not elaborate further on specific ages.

Fentanyl continues to be a major driver in the local and provincial drug trade, as it and its analogues remain the most common substances found in testing (77 per cent of cases).

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