More than 2,200 people died in British Columbia from toxic drugs in 2022, making it the second deadliest year on record.
The province’s medical examiner said Tuesday there were 2,272 suspected drug poisoning deaths last year, just short of the record 2,306 people who died in 2021. Most were middle-aged men in private homes.
The province also reported what is believed to be the first fatality at an overdose prevention site, or OPS.
The coroner previously reported that 2,224 people died in 2021 based on preliminary statistics. That figure was updated on Tuesday.
The numbers equate to roughly more than six deaths every day, or about one person every four hours.
British Columbia’s chief investigator and other health officials talk about the statistics at 10:30 a.m. PT.
CBC News is live streaming the press conference.
The statistics were released on the first day of British Columbia’s drug decriminalization initiative, which makes the possession of very small amounts of certain illegal drugs legal for those 18 and older.
The Federal Minister for Mental Health and Addictions has touted the three-year pilot project as “bold action and significant policy change” to help “end [the] crisis,” while advocates complained that it was just another small step against an emergency that has long called for serious action.
Under the new exemption, British Columbians over 18 can now carry up to 2.5 grams of cocaine, opioids, MDMA and methamphetamine for personal use. Officials say police have been instructed not to seize drugs from people and instead offer “health and social care information”.
Possession for the purpose of trafficking – or trade – is still illegal.
The 2.5-gram threshold is about half the amount the province requested when it first applied for an exemption in late 2021. Drug users said both thresholds were too lowconsidering how most people consume substances.
Illicit drug poisoning remains the leading cause of unnatural death in the province, according to the British Columbia Coroners Service, far above car crashes or suicide. Extreme concentrations of the powerful opioid fentanyl have been found in the majority of fatal overdoses.
More than 11,000 British Columbians have died from toxic illicit drugs since a public health emergency was declared in April 2016 over drug deaths.
The last two months of 2022 were among the deadliest of the year, with 182 lives lost in November and another 210 in December.
The coroner said there was no indication that prescribed safe supply contributed to the illicit drug deaths.
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