A look at the numbers behind British Columbia’s overdose crisis

VICTORIA – A look at the overdose crisis in British Columbia by the numbers:

CLIMBING DEATH TOLL: The total number of deaths due to illicit drugs reached 755 by the end of November, a 70.4-per-cent increase from the same period last year.

NOVEMBER SPIKE: Provisional data shows 128 people died as a result of illicit drug use in November, an average of more than four a day. The previous high for a single month was 82 in January.

FENTANYL FACTOR: From the beginning of January to the end of October, fentanyl was detected in 374 cases, or about 60 per cent of all illicit drug deaths. That’s almost triple the number of fentanyl-detected deaths for the same period last year.

ONE DAY DEATH TOLL: On Dec. 15, at least 11 people died of illicit drug overdoses.

OVERDOSE-PREVENTION SITES: Eighteen overdose prevention sites will have opened by the end of December in high-risk areas in Vancouver, Surrey, Victoria, Prince George, Kelowna, Kamloops, Maple Ridge, Langley and Abbotsford where people can inject illicit drugs while being monitored by trained professionals. They are in addition to the two safe-injection sites operating in Vancouver.

FIGHTING OVERDOSES: The BC Centre for Disease Control is expanding its Take Home Naloxone program. So far, 17,828 free naloxone kits have been distributed, with more than 12,000 handed out this year alone. Naloxone reverses the effects of opioid overdoses.

DRUG SEIZURES: Police in Victoria seized 1.45 kilograms of fentanyl on Nov. 29, and the Canada Border Services Agency has made 47 seizures of fentanyl or carfentanil weighing a total of 11.7 kilograms so far this year.

SOURCE: B.C. government, coroner’s service.