As B.C. marks another 2,272 toxic drug deaths, addictions doctor tells families: ‘I am so sorry’

published on January 31, 2023 in CBC News

More than 2,200 people died in British Columbia from toxic drugs over the course of 2022, making it the second deadliest year on record.

The province’s coroner on Tuesday said there were 2,272 suspected drug toxicity deaths last year, just shy of the record 2,306 people who died in 2021. Most were middle-aged men inside private homes.

The numbers mean B.C. has seen more than six deaths every day, or around one person every four hours, for two years.

“To the families of the 45 individuals who have passed away in the last week alone … to their friends and their colleagues and their communities and loved ones: my heart goes out to you and I’m so sorry that we’re continuing to fail,” said addiction medicine specialist Dr. Paxton Bach during an emotional news conference Tuesday…