More females, older drug users dying due to unregulated drug market: B.C. coroner

The BC Coroners Service has released data for the first four months of this year showing the number of BC deaths linked to illicit drug use outstripped the number of deaths caused by homicides, crashes, drownings, suicides and fires, combined.

Chief coroner Lisa Lapointe says the volatile illicit drug supply means users risk their lives every time they consume something purchased from the unregulated market.

She says at least 161 people died from toxic illicit drugs in April, equal to about 5.4 deaths per day, and 26 per cent were female, marking a shifting trend that has been growing since earlier this year.

Data shows the highest death rates are in Northern Health, with 58 deaths per 100,000 people and Vancouver Coastal, with 47 deaths per 100,000 but Lapointe says the numbers show high death rates in all corners of BC.

The coroners service in British Columbia says more females are dying from illicit drug use.

It says that while men have historically accounted for nearly 80 per cent of fatalities, more than 26 per cent of those who died in April were female, continuing a trend that began earlier this year.