The latest report from the BC Coroners' Service reveals illicit drug overdoses on southern Vancouver Island have more than doubled this year and fentanyl-related deaths have quadrupled.
Despite accounting only for the first nine months of 2016, the coroners' report reveals 53 illicit drug deaths on southern Vancouver Island, compared to 22 in all of last year.
It also reports 33 fentanyl-detected deaths locally this year, compared to eight in all of 2015. In the fentanyl-detected deaths portion of the study, all deaths where fentanyl was detected are counted, whether it was fentanyl alone or in combination with other drugs.
Province-wide, there have been 555 illicit drug overdoses in the first nine months of this year, that's up from 508 last year.
The BC Coroners Service is advising illicit drug users to never use alone, and to have naloxone present and readily available.