By Greg Fry

Illicit drug overdose deaths drop in January

Mar 19, 2019 | 11:44 AM

PRINCE GEORGE — Illicit drug overdose deaths were down substantially province-wide in January, including in the North.

According to the BC Coroners Service, there were 90 suspected drug overdose deaths in January, or 2.9 deaths per day, a 31 per cent decrease over the number of deaths occurring in January 2018 (130) and a 22 per cent decrease over the number of deaths occurring in December 2018 (116).

Of those 90 deaths in January, 29 occurred in the Vancouver Coastal region, 27 in the Fraser Health Authority, 17 on Vancouver Island, 11 in Interior Health and six in Northern Health, including two in Prince George.

The BC Coroners Service cautions that “because the 2019 data is only for the month of January, data should be interpreted with caution and is subject to change as investigations conclude.”

There were no deaths at supervised consumption or drug overdose prevention sites.

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