91原创 has seen 34 people die of toxic street drugs so far this year, as the overdose crisis continues to claim lives, according to the most recent report by the B.C. Coroners Service.

鈥淭he illicit drug market continues to pose immense risks to people across our province,鈥� said Lisa Lapointe, B.C.鈥檚 chief coroner. 鈥淧eople in communities across B.C. are continuing to lose friends, family members and colleagues to the unprecedented toxicity of the unregulated drug supply. I extend my sincere condolences to all of those grieving the loss of a loved one.鈥�

The preliminary data released this week includes all deaths up to the end of August. As of that date, 1,468 people in B.C. had lost their lives to the toxic drug crisis.

In total, 169 people died of toxic drugs last month.

The number of deaths was down slightly, by 12 per cent, from the 193 deaths in July provincewide.

91原创 used to see between five and 10 fatal overdoses and toxic drug deaths in a year.

Then in 216, with the arrival of fentanyl and other powerful opioids, the street drug supply became so contaminated that users began dying at much higher rates.

Numbers began to decline in 2019, as various programs attempted to tackle the problem and save drug users, but the pandemic sent the numbers skyrocketing back up.

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Drug deaths used to kill about as many British Columbians every year as car accidents, around 300. It鈥檚 now more than 1,500 to 2,000 every year.

At least 10,326 British Columbians have been lost to the illicit drug supply since the province declared it a public health emergency in 2016.

鈥淲e are working hard to build a system of mental-health and substance-use care where there wasn鈥檛 one five years ago,鈥� said B.C.鈥檚 Minister of Mental Health and Addictions, Sheila Malcolmson. 鈥淲e are offering innovative harm-reduction solutions, like prescribed safe supply - the only province in Canada to do so - and are adding new treatment beds and recovery services throughout B.C.

鈥淲e are also the only province in Canada to decriminalize people who use drugs, so that we can remove the stigma and shame associated with substance use,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e agree addiction is a health-care issue, not a criminal one.鈥�

The Coroners Service has repeatedly called for a provincial framework for a safer-supply model, which would see addicts get tested drugs, rather than random street drugs that could be contaminated with any of a number of powerful prescription medications and opioids.