Unregulated drugs killed fewer people in 2024 in B.C., but advocates say numbers still far too high
B.C. Coroners Service says 2,253 people, or more than 6 per day, were killed by unregulated drugs
The B.C. Coroners Service says 2,253 people were killed by unregulated drugs in 2024, marking the lowest annual death toll from the drug-toxicity crisis in the province in four years.
According to the coroners service, the deaths — which amounted to more than six per day in British Columbia last year — represented a 13 per cent decrease from 2023.
"This doesn't mitigate the fact that 2,253 members of our communities died in 2024, leaving behind grieving loved ones, friends, colleagues and teammates," said Chief Coroner Dr. Jatinder Baidwan in a written statement.
"Our thoughts are with all of those many, many people who have been touched by this crisis."
J. Stewart, executive director of Moms Stop the Harm, a network of families affected by substance-use-related harms and deaths, said people shouldn't read too much into the recent decline in drug deaths.
"We're about nine years into this public health emergency and a couple months of data skewing in a particular direction — I don't think it's cause for anyone to celebrate at this particular point in time," said Stewart.
"These are actual human beings that are dying every single day," he said.
Baidwan said there was a decline in deaths in the last several months of 2024, which was consistent with reporting from other jurisdictions in Canada and internationally.
According to the service, there were 152 suspected unregulated drug deaths in November and 147 in December.
The coroners service doesn't attribute the decline in deaths to any particular factor.
Last year, about seven out of 10 people killed were aged 30-59, with nearly three out of four being male, according to the coroners service.
Per capita, the local health areas with the highest death rates in 2024 were:
- Vancouver-Centre North (422).
- Lillooet (116).
- Greater Campbell River (109).
- Terrace (109).
- Prince George (103).
The coroners service says — according to preliminary data that's subject to change — fentanyl and its analogues continue to be the main driver of toxic drug deaths, detected in 78 per cent of expedited toxicological testing in 2024.
Cocaine was detected in 52 per cent of tests, fluorofentanyl in 46 per cent, methamphetamine in 43 per cent and bromazolam in 41 per cent.
'It's terrifying'
Stewart said he doesn't believe the province is treating the situation like a public health emergency.
"I think that this is a crisis, and it should be triaged as a crisis," he said, adding that the start of the COVID-19 emergency demonstrated how officials could respond to one.
"We're almost nine years into this nightmare, and it seems more like maintenance than addressing root causes and really tackling the issues in a substantive and significant way," said Stewart.
Moms Stop the Harm is calling for a regulated drug supply, similar to how the government controls alcohol.
"It's scary everywhere and to the people of the province who are losing their loved ones, their family members, their neighbours, colleagues ... it's terrifying," said Stewart.
"The unpredictability of the unregulated drug supply requires everyone to be vigilant and everyone to be on their toes and for everyone to proceed with great, great, great, immense caution."
Kora DeBeck, a research scientist with the B.C. Centre on Substance Use, cautioned against reading too much into the drop in drug toxicity deaths.
"The declines that we're seeing in B.C. are not unique to B.C.," she told Gloria Macarenko, host of CBC's On The Coast. "This is something that's happening across provinces in Canada and in the United States.
"And we know that these different jurisdictions have very different approaches. And so there's not a clear indication that there's one type of intervention that is that is winning here."
DeBeck said that evidence-based approaches to the crisis — such as expanding innovative addiction treatment, drug checking facilities and the safe supply of drugs — would be more beneficial in ending the crisis compared to talk of cracking down on cartels and drug dealers.
"The idea that we can stop the flow of these drugs, in the face of the kind of innovation that organized crime and drug cartels have, is unrealistic," she said.
In April 2016, the province declared a public health emergency as a result of illicit drug overdoses.
Since then, 16,047 people in B.C. have been killed by the toxic drug supply, according to the coroners service.
With files from Pinki Wong and On The Coast