Decade of death: With 18,000 lives lost, B.C. counts cost of 10-year drug emergency
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British Columbia has lost over 18,000 lives to toxic illicit drugs since a public health emergency was declared in 2016. The province is still seeing an average of almost five deaths per day from unregulated drugs, with illicit drug toxicity being the leading cause of unnatural death.
A public health emergency was declared in British Columbia on April 14, 2016, due to a significant increase in drug-related overdoses and deaths. Since then, over 18,000 people have died from toxic illicit drugs. The crisis has had a devastating impact on families and communities. Synthetic opioids have been a major contributor to the deaths. Despite recent declines in fatality rates, the problem persists. Illicit drug toxicity is now the leading cause of unnatural death in the province. The emergency has led to reflections on what could have been done differently to save lives.
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