Overdose Deaths Continue
Prince George, B.C.- Latest information from the BC Coroners Service indicates that on average, 4 people in B.C. died every day during May from illicit drug use.
Provisional data from the BC Coroners Service show that a total of 129 persons died as a result of illicit drug use during the month of May, down only a little from the April figure of 136.
If there is any encouraging news at all in the latest report, it is that that In the Northern Health region, the number of deaths from illicit drug use from January 1 of this year and the end of may is down significantly from the same period a year ago. This year, there have been 20 such deaths in the Northern Health region during that 5 month period, compared to 52 in the same period of 2016.
BC Coroners Service companion research shows that the proportion of illicit drug deaths in which fentanyl was detected continues to climb.
During 2016, the proportion of deaths in which fentanyl was detected remained stable at about 60%. But for the first four months of 2017, that figure rose to 72%, indicating continued toxicity within the drug supply. (The number of deaths in which fentanyl was detected in May is not yet available.)
Chief coroner Lisa Lapointe reiterated that persons who are not currently drug-dependent should avoid experimentation or any casual use of illicit drugs. “The number of deaths shows that the risks remain extreme. The drug supply is unsafe, and casual and occasional users are at high risk of overdose due to their opioid naiveté.”
Comments
After all the hoopla and the deaths that still keep happening they still don’t get it??? I really have no sympathy for this type of action! I will probably get flack from my statement but how much $ has taxpayers put forth and deaths are still happening? Education in schools about drugs and what they can do is an appropriate step. Make it a harsh reality so young people can comprehend!
Lien, even though my son died because of his actions after using a drug,I’m sick and tired of the funds spent on people wasting their lives on this crap, when it could have been used to help people trying to stay alive, open more surgeries, hire more nurses and doctors. The only good that appears to have come out of it is there’s more donors for transplants.
My deepst sympathes, takes a lot of courage for what you said and I admire that. Unfortunately a person, when an adult or even a young one, eventually have to make choices! You can show them the way, but like a bird they need to fly their own way. Kudos for your post Grizzly!
Even the ones that survive have so much damage in some cases they are in ICU’s forever. The costs associated are insane.
Everyone knows the problem, drug users know the risks…but still gamble… to me it shows the hold these hard drugs have on “addicts” ..
There are some that will never be helped, want help, or think they need help. It’s lousy to say but true.
You can’t help someone who doesn’t want it…. forced counseling doesn’t work..
We need to focus more on education then rehab…
Breaking news : If you abuse drugs and alcohol you can die. More on this groundbreaking revelation @ 9
Hallelujah! Horgan to the rescue!
John and his NDP are going to fix the fentanyl problem!
John said so!
well someones got to fix it…Krusty sure as hell didnt!!
she didn’t solve BC’s global warming problem either even with her BS carbon tax., even though she said it would.
With reference to the 7 comments before mine:
What a fine group of self absorbed people you are, as a bonus, you save a lot of energy in not concerning yourselves with the plight of others.
You are each also gifted with such incredible wisdom, this inconvenient thing called addiction would never happen to you or anyone you would choose to associate with, you’re too smart for that.
I doff my chapeau to you, and wish you nothing but the best.
What I am having difficulty swallowing though is your utter callousness in your judgement of others.
May the pain of a lost loved one never visit you.
metalman.
metalman, for your information, I put in far more than my share of energy (and money) trying to help my brother through his crack addiction!
I dealt with the lies, the relapses, the near death events, the drug dealers beating him up for money owed to them for drugs, the destruction of his home as it became a crack shack, the ongoing distrust in him in spite of the fact that he has been clean for a couple of years!
My brother never had an addiction, until he made the decision to try drugs! In spite of all of the warnings and all of the knowledge and information that we have on the dangers of using drugs, some will still make that unfortunate decision to try drugs for their first time. They made their choice and some gained an addiction from their choice!
Most addicts have family and it is the family that usually sits by watching their loved one self-destruct. It’s the family that struggles with why their loved one can’t stop using! It’s the family that has it’s hands tied because they are unable to help someone who doesn’t want or doesn’t think they need their family’s help! It’s the family who realizes that their loved one likely won’t stop using until such time as they hit rock bottom. I was lucky because my brother survived his plummet to rock bottom. Unfortunately for some like Grizzly2, their loved one’s rock bottom is 6 feet under!
So metalman, you can take your holier than thou condemnation, and with all due respect, you can put it where the sun doesn’t shine!
I wonder how many of the “take responsibility” crowd, made stupid decisions in their younger years, only to come out of it okay because the consequences of those decisions when they were younger and stupid, were not near as dire as they would’ve been today. I suspect the number is higher than they would care to admit.
Kind of sanctimonious to sit back and pass judgement or make pronouncements on people who may have done the exact same thing you did, but due to different circumstances, ended up on a considerably different path.
I guess their solution is simply for these young kids and teenagers to grow the hell up, and start showing the judgment of 40 and 50 year olds decades before they’ve developed that ability?
Metal, the pain is still there 17 years.
“holier than thou”
Funny.
metalman.
Drugs and drug addictions cost society way more than it should be costing us. Only drastic measure could somewhat fixed this problem, the bleeding heart approach has not worked and only made it worse.
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