The pace of illicit drug overdose deaths in BC is not slowing.
The Coroners Service reports the suspected number of overdose deaths for the year to date is now 1,103, up from 607 at this time in 2016.
BC Coroner Service spokesperson Andy Watson says Kelowna's numbers have also increased - 63 deaths in the first 9 months of 2017 - up from 47 in all of 2016.
He says the crisis also affects people in all walks of life - it's not just a street issue - and this points to the fact the drug supply is not safe..
"For the first nine months of 2017, we've seen a 147% increase in the number of fentanyl detected deaths compared with the same period of 2016, so that's an alarming jump. It shows that about 4 in every 5 illicit drug deaths have fentanyl detected and we're also seeing fentanyl detected along with oterdrugs like cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine," he says.
Watson says the Coroner Service advices if you're going to be using - use in the company of someone who can administer naloxone, or go to a supervised consumption or an overdose prevention site.