Close X
Friday, November 29, 2024
ADVT 
National

More Than Half Of Fatal Overdoses Involved People Who Were Mentally Ill: Coroner

The Canadian Press, 27 Sep, 2018 06:34 PM
    VANCOUVER — The BC Coroners Service says completed investigations of 872 overdose fatalities show more than half of those who died had been diagnosed with a mental health disorder or had evidence of being mentally ill.
     
     
    The service says the investigations represent about a third of the 2,545 overdose deaths in 2016 and 2017.
     
     
    It says more than two-thirds of those who fatally overdosed used drugs alone and 45 per cent of them had reported pain-related issues.
     
     
    It said 63 per cent of the deaths occurred in homes, but that number shot to 74 per cent in the Fraser Health authority, the largest of the six health regions that serve the province.
     
     
    The report says most of those who died were men between the ages of 30 and 49 but women were more likely to use injection as a way to consume drugs versus smoking, snorting or ingesting them.
     
     
    It says illicit fentanyl was the most commonly detected street drug, especially in deaths among those aged 15 to 29.
     
     
    The service has recorded over 3,400 deaths since January 2016 but says the number of overdose fatalities decreased by 27 per cent this August compared with July.

    MORE National ARTICLES

    Escaped Child Killer Michael Douglas Sheets, Who Walked Away From Mission Prison Has Been Found

    Escaped Child Killer Michael Douglas Sheets, Who Walked Away From Mission Prison Has Been Found
     A British Columbia man who walked away from a minimum-security prison while serving time for a firebombing that killed two children in Calgary has been apprehended.

    Escaped Child Killer Michael Douglas Sheets, Who Walked Away From Mission Prison Has Been Found

    Fraser Heath Investigating Outbreak Of Legionnaires' Disease In Surrey, B.C.

    Fraser Heath Investigating Outbreak Of Legionnaires' Disease In Surrey, B.C.
    Public health officials are investigating a number of cases of Legionnaires' disease contracted in Surrey, B.C.

    Fraser Heath Investigating Outbreak Of Legionnaires' Disease In Surrey, B.C.

    Conviction Of Myanmar Journalists A Blow To Human Rights And Democracy: Freeland

    Conviction Of Myanmar Journalists A Blow To Human Rights And Democracy: Freeland
    Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland says the conviction of two Reuters journalists for covering the Rohingya crisis undermines the rule of law and freedom of the press in Myanmar.

    Conviction Of Myanmar Journalists A Blow To Human Rights And Democracy: Freeland

    Canadian Linguist Created Custom Language For New Movie 'Alpha'

    Canadian Linguist Created Custom Language For New Movie 'Alpha'
    VANCOUVER — Typically when anthropology professor Christine Schreyer finishes concocting a new language for a film, it is eventually spoken by aliens from beyond the stars bearing messages of hope, peace, and occasionally destruction and doom.

    Canadian Linguist Created Custom Language For New Movie 'Alpha'

    Saudi Man Helps Medical Students In Canada Seek Asylum Amid Diplomatic Tensions

    Saudi Man Helps Medical Students In Canada Seek Asylum Amid Diplomatic Tensions
    A Saudi Arabian man who successfully claimed asylum in Canada is now helping students across the country do the same amid tensions between the two countries that erupted last month.

    Saudi Man Helps Medical Students In Canada Seek Asylum Amid Diplomatic Tensions

    Man Arrested After Allegedly Shooting Himself In Foot, Crashing Car In Toronto

    Man Arrested After Allegedly Shooting Himself In Foot, Crashing Car In Toronto
    Toronto police say a man is in custody after allegedly shooting himself in the foot and then crashing his car when he tried to flee the scene.

    Man Arrested After Allegedly Shooting Himself In Foot, Crashing Car In Toronto