Opioid overdose will kill 800 people in B.C. this year if the death toll continues at its current rate. In the first three months of 2016, fentanyl was detected in half of 200 opioid-overdose deaths. Fentanyl is indiscriminately killing entrenched street users and casual users from the suburbs.
Opioid Overdose Epidemic
A North American drug crisis has planted deep roots in B.C. The B.C. Coroners Service has ample data on this: Last year, at least 480 people died of an illicit-drug opioid overdose, up from 274 in 2012. But in just the first four months of 2016, such overdoses have already killed at least 256 in the province.
Of the 480 deaths last year, fentanyl was detected in 32 per cent of cases, up from five per cent in 2012. In the first three months of 2016, fentanyl turned up in 49 per cent of overdoses. If the death toll continues at its current rate, 800 people could die from opioid overdose in B.C. this year, up 67 per cent from last year.
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