New data out Tuesday from the B.C. Coroners Service finds toxic drugs claimed the lives of at least 192 people in March, or 6.2 deaths per day.
The numbers reflects an 11% decrease in lives lost when compared with March 2023 (215), when 6.9 people died each day from toxic drugs.
At least 572 lives have been lost in the first three months of 2024.
So far this year, about 7 in every 10 of those who have died from toxic drugs were between the ages of 30 and 59. Nearly 75% were male.
Officials note that the rate of death among females is climbing year over year: 23 deaths per 100,000 in 2024, compared with 20.6 deaths per 100,000 females for all of 2023.
Vancouver, Surrey and Nanaimo continue to experience the highest number of unregulated drug deaths in 2024.
Fentanyl has been detected in 85% of unregulated drug deaths that have undergone expedited toxicology testing.
84% of unregulated drug deaths in 2024 have occurred inside (47% in private homes and 37% inside social and supportive housing, single-room occupancy buildings (known as SROs), shelters, hostels and other indoor locations) and 15% were reported to be outside in vehicles, sidewalks, streets or parks.
For B.C. residents between 10 and 59, unregulated drug toxicity is the leading cause of death, accounting for more deaths than homicides, suicides, accidents and natural disease combined.
Since the public-health emergency was first declared in April 2016, at least 14,400 people in the province have lost their lives to toxic drugs.