Illicit-drug overdoses continue to kill an average of four people a day in B.C., sparing no one from teenagers to senior citizens.
The B.C. Coroners Service released its latest statistics Thursday showing that 511 people — including six youth under the age of 19 — died in the first four months of this year.
There were 124 deaths in April, a 23 per cent decrease from March when 160 people died — the second highest monthly tally on record.
“We’re cautiously optimistic about the fact that we’re back down in the 120s,” said Andy Watson, the service’s manager of strategic communications.
“But that still is obviously four deaths per day in our province and that’s four deaths too many.”
Victoria had the third highest number of overdose deaths among cities with 39 to the end of April. Vancouver had 135 and Surrey 80.
Watson said four of every five victims is a male and seven of every 10 involves someone in the 19 to 49 age group.
The vast majority of overdoses occur indoors, mostly in private residences.
Fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opiate, was detected in 83 per cent of the cases and remains the likely explanation for the epidemic. “Obviously there still is a toxic drug supply out there,” Watson said.
The rate of overdose deaths on the South Island remains a concern. There were 37.6 deaths per 100,000 people to the end of April, a significant jump from last year’s rate of 26.6 per 100,000.
