Eight people died of toxic drug poisonings in the Grand Forks Area in 2024, according to the annual data released by the B.C. Coroners Service.
The findings released last week contained several details on local, regional and provincial fatalities and included details such as the number of deaths, types of drug responsible and age and gender.
In total, 36 toxic drug poisoning fatalities were recorded last year in the West Kootenays, with nine in the Nelson local health area, which includes Salmo and the southern Slocan Valley. Trail's area – which include Rossland – also had nine deaths, Castlegar had six, three in Creston and one in the Arrow Lakes area, which Nakusp is included.
The total recorded deaths for 2024 is down slightly from 2023, when 40 people were killed. Among the recorded drugs behind the fatalities, fentanyl was the number one cause of death at around 85 per cent of unregulated drug deaths, followed by methamphetamine at 49.1 per cent, benzodiazepines at 47.1 per cent, cocaine at 45.1 per cent, alcohol at 18.2 per cent, other opioids at 18.1 per cent and other unregulated stimulants making up 1.9 per cent.
There have been 217 deaths due to unregulated drug poisonings in the West Kootenay since the provincial government declared a drug crisis in 2016 due to the spread of fentanyl.
Since 2016, most of the deaths have been in Nelson and the surrounding area with 64 deaths, followed by Trail with 49, 42 in Grand Forks, 35 in Castlegar, 12 in Arrow Lakes and Creston and three in the Kootenay Lake area, including Kaslo.
The total deaths by toxic drugs in the province for 2024 was 2,253, with 16,328 having died since 2016. Breaking down age and gender for 2024, 70 per cent of those killed were between the ages of 30 and 59, with 74 per cent being male.
However, fatalities among females are increasing, with an average of 20 per 100,000. It was 13 per 100,000 in 2020.
