In the first three months of 2023, almost 600 people have died in British Columbia, an average of 6.4 per day, due to drug overdoses, according to the province’s coroner.
In a news release on April 18, the BC Coroners Service said the province is losing lives in “record numbers,” attributing this to a “toxic, unregulated drug supply.”
Between January and March, 595 people died, the second-highest total in the first three months of a calendar year, beaten only by 2022, which recorded 599 overdose deaths in the first three months. The coroner said the total number of deaths equals a provincewide death rate of 44.1 per 100,00 population….