More than 1,000 people have died of illicit drug overdose so far in 2021, the latest numbers show.
Data from the B.C. Coroners Service released Tuesday showed at least 1,011 deaths are suspected to have been caused by illicit drug toxicity in the first half of the year.
The latest data includes deaths that occurred between January and the end of June, B.C.'s ninth consecutive month in which at least 150 people died of toxic drug overdose, and the 16th month in a row with more than 100 deaths.
The province's chief coroner described the toll as a "tragic reminder" that the supply remains a threat to public health and safety across B.C.
In a statement including the latest data, Lisa Lapointe said drug toxicity is now the leading cause of death for British Columbians between the ages of 19 and 39.
In the first six months of the year, the highest number of deaths have been in B.C.'s Lower Mainland. The regions with the highest rates of death were the Vancouver Coastal and Northern health authorities.
Drug toxicity is the leading cause of unnatural death in B.C.
B.C.'s death toll is a number that Lapointe says keeps her up at night.
On International Overdose Awareness Day, the chief coroner spoke to CTV Morning Live in Vancouver ahead of an announcement on substance-related harms in the province.
"It's tremendously sad. As coroners, we speak directly with the families of those who have died," she said.
Part of the reason these deaths are so devastating is that they're "completely preventable," Lapointe said, and they often come after a lengthy struggle from the deceased's families to find support and help.
"The worst day of their life is when they get the phone call."
Lapointe will be joined by B.C. Emergency Health Services advanced care paramedic Brian Twaites and co-founder of Moms Stop the Harm Leslie McBain for a news conference at 10 a.m., which can be watched live on CTVNewsVancouver.ca at 10 a.m.
The province has been in a public health emergency for more than five years.
Speaking to CTV News before the live event Tuesday, Lapointe said she's hopeful that change will come.
"We are in a very, very sad trajectory right now."
Projections for 2021, based on the first few months, suggest there may be as many as 2,000 or more deaths by the time the year is out.
Among the issues facing users and public health officials is that the supply has become more toxic since the emergency was first declared in 2016, a few years after illicit fentanyl first started to appear in B.C.
"The numbers get bigger and bigger every year. We did see a small decline in 2019 due to the widespread use of Naloxone… so that helped reverse overdoses, but it didn't help prevent overdoses," she said.
"What we've seen in this province – what we see and continue to see – is fentanyl playing a role in about 85 per cent of the deaths."
She said the toxic and unpredictable substance is very difficult to manage as a user, and during the pandemic, people have been using alone.
Earlier this year, the province unveiled a new way for users to access a safe supply – a bid to save lives that Lapointe called "a small start."
Health authorities have been tasked with establishing means to provide users with safe substances, something Lapointe said users are hopeful about.
But the plan needs to be "much more robust," she said, suggesting treatment and recovery options should be priorities in the province as well.
"It's very hard to come by. Services are very patchy. Eventually what we'd like to see is a provincial program, so that those who are using substances can access safe supply and hopefully at some point they can start to stabilize their lives – their lives are not at risk every day – and then find the services that they need to live healthy lives."
Asked for a key takeaway on International Overdose Awareness Day, Lapointe's message about users was simple: "They need support."
Noting previous stigma, including possession treated as a crime, she said substance use or abuse is a medical condition, and support and health-care services are needed before anything will change.
"That has started, but it's a big shift," she said.
with files from CTV News