The poisoned street drug supply continued to claim lives around B.C., including in 91原创, where more than three dozen people had died before winter set in.

The most recent data, from January to the end of October, showed there had been 36 deaths in 91原创 to that point in 2023.

With two months left to run, that was putting 91原创 on track to have one of the worst years for unregulated drug deaths in its history. In 2021, there were 58 deaths in 91原创, and in 2022, there were 44.

The toxic street drug supply is composed of a wide variety of substances, with users not knowing what they鈥檙e getting or how strong it is at any given time.

According to the B.C. Coroner鈥檚 Service, fentanyl, a powerful opioid, remained the primary drug related to deaths in B.C. 鈥� more than 85 per cent of all drug deaths in 2022 involved fentanyl, a rate that has held roughly steady since 2017.

However, about 45 per cent of street drug deaths also involved methamphetamine, almost 40 per cent involved cocaine, and nearly 30 per cent involved benzodiazepines, which are controlled prescription drugs. Alcohol was present in more than 20 per cent of cases.

At the end of the year, B.C.鈥檚 Chief Coroner Lisa LaPointe announced her retirement in Feburary. She left office upset that there had not been an overarching plan to deal with the provincial emergency.

鈥淲e see these ad hoc announcements but sadly what we haven鈥檛 seen is a thoughtful, evidence-based, data-driven plan for how we are going to reduce the number of deaths in our province,鈥� said Lapointe in December.

Meanwhile, the deaths of homeless people province-wide doubled in 2023, a spike largely blamed on the toxic street drug supply.

The deaths continued despite various government programs, including the controversial move in January to decriminalize possession of small amounts of street drugs. The move was heavily criticized by opposition parties in B.C.