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NANAIMO — More people died from drug toxicity last year than in any year previous.
Grim new numbers from the B.C. Coroners Service shows 2023 will go down as the deadliest year in the toxic drug crisis so far, with 2,511 people dying of suspected unregulated drug deaths province-wide, including 116 in the Greater Nanaimo region.
Nanaimo already passed the grim record of 85 deaths in 2022 in October, where 99 people had already lost their lives to illicit toxic drugs from Jan 1. to Oct. 31.
B.C.’s chief coroner Lisa Lapointe spoke about the increase in unregulated drug deaths on Wednesday, Jan. 24., with five per cent more people dying this year compared to last.
“Their death was preventable. Their loss, your loss, is our collective loss. Close to 14,000 people have died as a result of drug toxicity in B.C., since this public health emergency was declared in April of 2016, and they’ve left holes in our lives, our families, and our communities.”
The 116 deaths in Nanaimo accounted for about four per cent of all unregulated drug deaths province-wide last year, with Vancouver, Surrey, and the Greater Victoria Area at the top.
Seventy-eight people died in all of 2022 in Nanaimo, while 53 lost their lives the year prior, showing a sharp increase in Harbour City unregulated drug deaths.
Greater Nanaimo had the seventh highest rate of drug deaths (fatalities per 100,000 people) in the province with 89.8, behind Kitimat, Greater Campbell River, Terrace, Alberni/Clayoquot, Hope, and Vancouver Centre North.
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