BC’s toxic drug supply continues to take its toll on the Northwest.
In October, Northern Health saw 15 toxic drug deaths in October, six of which occurred in the Northwest.
So far this year, the health authority has seen 143 fatalities with 44 of them in our region – one death away from equalling its record-high for overdose deaths, which was set last year.
In terms of the Health Service Delivery Area, the Northwest has the second-highest drug toxicity death rate of 67.7– only Vancouver (74.4) ranked higher.
179 suspected overdose fatalities occurred province-wide in October – that equates to nearly 6 people per day dying from an overdose.
1,827 people have passed away province-wide this year.
No deaths have been reported at supervised consumption or drug overdose prevention sites.