The latest report released by the BC Coroners Service shows more than 1,500 people in British Columbia have died of illicit drug overdoses in the first nine months of the year — with 333 lives lost in August and September alone..“Once again, we are reporting record numbers of deaths in our province due to the toxic illicit drug supply,” said Dr. Lisa Lapointe, chief coroner..“The tremendous loss being felt by families and communities across BC as they mourn loved ones lost far too soon is heartbreaking.”.There was a total of 1,734 fatal overdoses for all of 2020, which at the time was a recorded high in BC, but despite the incessant cycle of arresting and releasing low to mid-level dealers, the province is back on track for another record-breaking year..The 1,534 drug deaths thus far in 2021 are the most seen in the first nine months of any previous year in BC..Toxicology results indicate that the illicit drug supply in BC is both “volatile and increasingly toxic,” with fentanyl and its analogues detected in 84% of all illicit toxicity deaths in 2021..Carfentanil, a particularly potent chemical often used in veterinary medicine to anesthetize large animals such as elephants and bears, has been detected in 137 deaths..The vast majority of toxicological results indicate the presence of multiple substances..A recovered heroin user from Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside (DTES) told the Western Standard that when someone dies of an overdose, other users “flock to the source,” as the recent death indicates a particularly strong supply — further incentivizing the poisoning of one’s product..The main incentive for dealers is the mere simplicity of getting synthetic opioids into the country compared to other drugs. Fentanyl, which is roughly 100 times stronger than morphine can turn over a substantial profit while taking up as much space as a small envelope, thus mitigating the risk as opposed to primarily smuggling large quantities of heroin from Southeast Asia..“I kept it cool for the longest time, but things got interesting when fentanyl first came around in like 2011,” a former drug dealer with Redd Alert, a First Nations gang, told the Western Standard..“I didn’t know what it was, but I knew that it was dropping people. I started selling opiates around 2012, but I was selling real heroine, not fentanyl.”.The former gangster said synthetic opioids were killing users in high volume for at least five years without mainstream recognition, going “unnoticed until it started affecting middle to upper-class people.”.By 2016, fentanyl was regularly making headlines after it began turning up in cocaine and pressed pills being sold as pharmaceutical benzodiazepines..Even when police successfully infiltrate the upper echelons of black market hierarchies, the overall impact it has on illicit drug distribution seems to be minuscule — the result being nothing more than a violent power vacuum leading to an increase in both overdoses and gang violence..“Our province is in the sixth year of this public health emergency, and the death rate due to toxic drugs has never been higher,” Lapointe said..Additional key preliminary findings reported by the BC Coroner Service:.71% of those who have died as a result of suspected drug toxicity in 2021 were between 30 and 59, and 79% were male.The number of illicit drug toxicity deaths in August and September 2021 is equal to about 5.5 deaths per day.By Health Service Delivery Area, in 2021, the highest rates were in Vancouver, Thompson Cariboo, Northwest, North Vancouver Island and Fraser East.By Local Health Area, in 2021, the highest rates were in Upper Skeena, Lillooet, Merritt, North Thompson and Hope.Deaths due to drug toxicity remain the leading cause of unnatural death in BC..Reid Small is a BC correspondent for the Western Standard.,rsmall@westernstandardonline.com,.Twitter.com/reidsmall
