Calls ramp up for decriminalized hard drugs as B.C. breaks overdose death annual record

published on February 7, 2019 in Global News (BC)

Nearly 1,500 British Columbians died of suspected illicit drug overdose deaths in 2018.

The BC Coroners Service reports 1,489 people died of drug overdoses compared to 1,420 illicit drug overdose deaths in 2017.

“Families and communities across the province are losing friends, neighbours and loved ones to illicit overdoses at an alarming rate,” B.C. chief coroner Lisa Lapointe said. “The illicit drug supply is unpredictable and unmanageable, and fentanyl is now implicated in 86 per cent of overdose deaths,” …