Illicit drug deaths in B.C. dip slightly in February for second straight month
VICTORIA — The number of illicit drug overdose deaths dropped slightly for the second straight month in February in British Columbia, but the coroner’s service said the numbers are still much higher compared when compared with a year ago.
“While I’m very relieved to see that the numbers have not continued to increase over the last two months, we are still losing cherished members of our communities at a terrible rate,” chief coroner Lisa Lapointe said in a news release on Friday.
“People are dying in far higher numbers than we’ve ever seen, and a slight decrease in fatalities from the previous month should not be seen as any indication that the risk has decreased.”
Provisional data from the coroner’s service showed 102 people died in February, compared with 59 in February 2016, a 72.9 per cent increase. That amounts to an average of more than seven deaths every two days in February, the coroner said.