Close X
Sunday, October 13, 2024
ADVT 
National

Vancouver Records 'Ghastly' Death Count From Suspected Overdoses: Mayor

The Canadian Press, 03 Aug, 2018 01:44 PM
    VANCOUVER — The suspected overdose deaths of 11 people last week in Vancouver has set what the mayor calls a "ghastly" death-count record for 2018.
     
     
    The city says the week of July 23 was the worst on record this year for suspected overdose deaths based on statistics from the police department.
     
     
    So far in 2018, 206 people have died in Vancouver from suspected overdoses.
     
     
    The latest overdose statistics for the province show there was a dip in the number of suspected illicit drug deaths in June compared with the same month a year earlier.
     
     
    There were 105 illicit drug overdose deaths across B.C. in June, a drop from 123 in the same month last year.
     
     
    Mayor Gregor Robertson called last week's death count for the city "simply ghastly" in a news release.
     
     
    "We don't see signs that we've turned a corner on this public health disaster in Vancouver," he said. "A poisoned supply of street drugs continues to kill our loved ones and devastate families across our city. Lives are on the line — people need access to safe prescription drugs rather than being forced to turn to the deadly drugs from organized crime on our streets."
     
     
    The number of deaths due to overdoses last week must still be confirmed by the BC Coroners Service.
     
     
    The fire department says it responded to 147 overdose calls last week, a 47 per cent increase from the previous week, and 24 per cent higher than the weekly average for 2017.
     
     
    The city says frontline workers suspect the increase in overdoses and related deaths are due to high toxicity in street drugs.
     
     
    In Vancouver last year, 366 people died from suspected overdoses.
     
     
    Across B.C., fentanyl has been detected in 81 per cent of the drug overdose deaths in the first six months of 2018, the coroner's service said this week. The powerful painkiller appears to account for the spike in illicit drug overdose deaths since 2012, as the number of deaths excluding fentanyl has remained relatively stable since 2011, it said.
     
     
    Illicit drug overdose deaths climbed to more than 1,400 in 2017 from about 300 in 2012, surpassing suicide and car accidents to become the leading cause of unnatural deaths in British Columbia.

    MORE National ARTICLES

    B.C. Falls Shorts On Improving Women's Rights: Report Card

    B.C. Falls Shorts On Improving Women's Rights: Report Card
    VANCOUVER — A legal advocacy group says British Columbia is falling short of meeting targets set by the United Nations on women's rights.

    B.C. Falls Shorts On Improving Women's Rights: Report Card

    Indian-American Couple Ranvir Trehan and Adarsh Trehan Gift Kennedy Centre $1 Mn For India Fund

    Indian-American Couple Ranvir Trehan and Adarsh Trehan Gift Kennedy Centre $1 Mn For India Fund
    An Indian-American couple has gifted $1 million to the Kennedy Centre for the Performing Arts to create an India Fund for producing and presenting Indian programming through 2025.

    Indian-American Couple Ranvir Trehan and Adarsh Trehan Gift Kennedy Centre $1 Mn For India Fund

    B.C. Woman Saved After Falling From Vehicle, Spending 12 Hours Down Cliff

    B.C. Woman Saved After Falling From Vehicle, Spending 12 Hours Down Cliff
    A British Columbia woman is expected to "be just fine" after spending a night outside when her vehicle drove off a North Okanagan highway early Monday afternoon.

    B.C. Woman Saved After Falling From Vehicle, Spending 12 Hours Down Cliff

    High-Flying Kite Interferes With Air Traffic At Victoria Harbour

    High-Flying Kite Interferes With Air Traffic At Victoria Harbour
    VICTORIA — Nav Canada says a high-flying kite interfered with air traffic in Victoria's inner harbour Tuesday, causing some flights to be diverted.

    High-Flying Kite Interferes With Air Traffic At Victoria Harbour

    Parents Of Sherin Mathews Lose Right To See Biological Daughter

    Parents Of Sherin Mathews Lose Right To See Biological Daughter
    HOUSTON:  Indian-American foster parents of deceased 3-year-old Sherin Mathews, Wesley and Sini Mathews, have lost all the rights to see their biological daughter for now, a judge ruled.

    Parents Of Sherin Mathews Lose Right To See Biological Daughter

    No Parole For 70 Years For Man Who Killed 3 Women In Ottawa Valley In 2015

    No Parole For 70 Years For Man Who Killed 3 Women In Ottawa Valley In 2015
    PEMBROKE, Ont. — A 60-year-old man convicted of killing three women during an hour-long rampage in the Ottawa Valley two years ago has been sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for 70 years.

    No Parole For 70 Years For Man Who Killed 3 Women In Ottawa Valley In 2015