Illicit drug toxicity is now the leading cause of death in B.C. for people aged 10 to 59

Another day, another outrageous statistic

My friend Alan on the beach in Parksville, B.C. He passed away in 2018.

It's heartbreaking. It's infuriating.

In just the first five months of the year, over 1,000 people in B.C. have died from illicit drug overdoses.

People like Alan. People like Sam.

A shocking, outrageous, horrible fact: In B.C., the leading cause of death for people aged 10 to 59 is now illicit drug toxicity.

It’s not disease. It’s not accidents. It’s drugs. Toxic, unregulated drugs.

Another shocking, outrageous, horrible fact: Drug toxicity deaths in the province now surpass suicides, homicides, accidents, and natural diseases combined.

The worst part? These deaths are preventable.

People are relying on an illicit market for their drugs. A market that, due to its illegality, provides an unregulated, toxic, and volatile drug supply.

We know people will continue using drugs, as they have since time immemorial, which means they will continue to needlessly die unless we dramatically change our drug policies.

We've been in a public health emergency since 2016 and, of course, not much has changed.

More than 12,000 B.C. residents have died from overdoses since then. Across Canada, over 32,000 deaths.

Each one a life that mattered. Like Alan. Like Sam.