More people died from an illicit drug overdose in December, than any other month in 2016.
More people died from an illicit drug overdose in December, than any other month in 2016.
New year-end numbers from the BC Coroners Service show there were 142 deaths last month, bringing the years total to 914. In Kelowna, 48 people died from an overdose last year- more than double the 19 that died in 2015.
In the Interior Health Authority, 29 people died from an illicit drug overdose in December, which is more than double the monthly average for the year.
The province is also now including data on where the overdoses occured. Province-wide, 89.9 per cent happened indoors, such as a private residence, while 9.2 percent occured outside, like a vehicle, sidewalk or street.
The authority is planning to apply for a mobile supervised injection site for Kamloops and Kelowna to try and curb the number of fatal overdoses.
