January was another grim month in BC for deaths caused by toxic illicit drugs

January was another grim month in BC for deaths caused by toxic illicit drugs.

Chief coroner Lisa Lapointe says 207 people died, an average of 6.7 every day, the third-highest monthly toll since 2016 when a public health emergency was declared due to rising toxicity of street drugs.

Lapointe says there were also concerning increases in drug-related fatalities in small and medium-sized communities in January, with 11 deaths in Kamloops and 19 recorded across the Northern Health region.

She says a safer drug supply is one key to solving the crisis, a recommendation contained in a report issued earlier this week examining more than six-thousand drug deaths in BC, but Premier John Horgan has said it's too early to commit to the proposal.