It was a grim year for the number of illicit drug overdose deaths in B.C., and Burnaby didn’t fare any better.
Last year, the province recorded 914 deaths from illicit drugs, which increased by 80 per cent from the previous year. It was also a record for the province.
In Burnaby, a total of 36 people died from drug overdoses in the city. The number was more than double the 16 that died in 2015, and more than any year going back to 2007.
For some perspective, six communities recorded more overdose deaths than Burnaby in 2016, including Vancouver and Surrey which topped the list at 215 and 108 respectively.
The B.C. Coroners Service did not release new numbers on the proportion of deaths in which fentanyl was detected in 2016, as they are not available yet. It is anticipated that data will be available sometime in March.
With the number of deaths reaching record proportions, B.C.’s chief coroner is warning people who use illicit drugs.
“We recognize that those who are suffering from drug dependency are not going to be able to abstain immediately from drug use,” Lisa Lapointe said in a statement. “Given the increasing risk of contaminated drugs and the growing number of fatalities, though, we urge them to use illicit drugs only in the presence of medical expertise or, at the very least, a sober person with access to, and training in, the use of naloxone. For those who are not drug dependent, we strongly advise you to avoid experimentation and the casual use of illicit drugs. The risks are now unmanageable.”
The coroners service also noted that no deaths occurred at any supervised-consumption site.
Since December, more than 20 overdose prevention sites have opened in some of the hardest hit communities, but so far there isn’t one in Burnaby. In December, Fraser Health officials explained prevention sites are aimed at communities considered to be at high risk, which is defined by the number of overdose deaths per 100,000 people. Burnaby doesn’t fall into that category.
Health authority officials pointed out that regional strategies to deal with the crisis, including harm reduction services, are still being implemented in communities, including Burnaby.
On Thursday, the authority’s chief medical officer, Dr. Victoria Lee, noted the number of overdose deaths in the region from November to December went down, and the indication is that the numbers are back to the pre-surge levels.
She also said the health authority has done a more detailed analysis of the rate of deaths per 100,000 people in Burnaby, and based on the results, it hasn’t added additional overdose prevention services.
