Nearly 600 Drug Deaths in BC During First Three Months of 2023, Says Coroner

A man sits in an alleyway in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside, Canada, on Feb. 6, 2019. Jonathan Hayward/The Canadian Press

In the first three months of 2023, almost 600 people have died in British Columbia, an average of 6.4 per day, due to drug overdoses, according to the province’s coroner.

In a news release on April 18, the BC Coroners Service said the province is losing lives in “record numbers,” attributing this to a “toxic, unregulated drug supply.”