The latest statistics from the BC Coroners Service (BCCS) show toxic drugs as the cause of 44 deaths in the Kootenays in the first nine months of this year.
According to the BCCS, the East Kootenay reported one death in August and two in September, while five deaths were reported in August followed by another four in September throughout the Kootenay Boundary region.
Province-wide, drug poisonings claimed the lives of 187 British Columbians in August and 183 in September.
The BCCS says at least 1,749 lives have been lost to toxic drugs across the province in the first nine months of this year.
In 2024, 70 per cent of those who died were between the ages of 30 to 59 – 74 per cent were male.
In addition, the rate of death among females is up on a year-over-year basis. This year, the death rate is 21 per 100,000 – 60% higher than it was in 2020.
That said, it represents a slight decrease from the same time last year.
“The data for the first nine months of 2024 represents an eight per cent decrease from the number of deaths during the first nine months of 2023 (1,896),” said the BCCS.
“In both August and September, approximately six people died each day from suspected unregulated drugs.”
The BCCS notes that the Interior Health region had the highest drug deaths per capita in B.C.
“While the health authorities of Vancouver Coastal and Interior Health had the highest number of unregulated drug deaths in September with 50 in each region, Interior (5.6) and Northern Health (4.3) had the highest rates of unregulated drug deaths per 100,000 people,” said BCCS officials.
Fentanyl was detected in 85 per cent of unregulated drug samples in toxicological testing through September.
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