153 people died in July, 149 in August from unregulated drugs in B.C.: coroner

VICTORIA — British Columbia’s coroners service say 153 people died in July from unregulated toxic drugs and another 149 deaths occurred in August.

Those numbers are up slightly from the previous two months when the service reported 145 people died in May and 147 people died in June

A government statement says the number of unregulated drug deaths in July and August amounted to almost five people a day.

The coroners service says the highest number of deaths so far this year were in the Fraser and Vancouver Coastal health authorities, making up more than half of the province’s total.