Government Policies Blamed as Toxic Drug Deaths Soar

published on December 10, 2021 by Moira Wyton in Toronto Star

Five years after B.C. declared a public health emergency, toxic drugs are killing more people than ever before.

The BC Coroners Service reported today that 201 people died in October, the most ever recorded in a single month.

This brought 2021’s total number of deaths to 1,782. Last year had previously been B.C.’s deadliest year on record, with 1,765 people lost to toxic drugs.

The province’s per capita death rate is now 41.2 per 100,000 people, double what it was in 2016 when the public health emergency was declared, and nearly eight times what it was when documentation of toxic drug deaths began in 1995.

The death, grief and pain for 201 more families and communities is yet another reminder of government apathy towards the lives of people who use drugs, advocates and experts say…