British Columbia recorded its fewest drug-related deaths since 2020 last year, yet the death toll continues to be high at 2,253 lives lost.
Data recently released by the B.C. Coroners Service indicates a 13 percent decrease since 2023 when 2,511 people died; yet the number of fatalities still far exceeds the 1,776 reported in 2020.
“The information collected by our coroners during their investigations into unregulated drug toxicity deaths, indicates a decline in fatalities over the last several months of 2024,” chief coroner Dr. Jatinder Baidwan said in a press release. “This is consistent with reporting from other jurisdictions in Canada and internationally. This doesn’t mitigate the fact that 2,253 members of our communities died in 2024.”…