Twenty-three people in the West Kootenay died of toxic drug poisoning in the first eight months of the year, according to new data released by the BC Coroners Service.
The statistics, which are broken down by local health area that includes cities and their surrounding rural communities, show the most deaths from January to August occurred in the Grand Forks area with seven. That tops Grand Forks' total of six for all of 2023, and is the most in that area since 2018.
Nelson has had six deaths so far, followed by five in Castlegar, five in Trail, and none in the Creston and Arrow Lakes regions. The Kootenay area with the most deaths is Cranbook, which already has 11.
Forty people died in the West Kootenay in 2023, the most since the start of the toxic drug crisis was declared in 2016.
In B.C., at least 1,749 people have died through the end of September. The province has recorded 15,822 deaths since 2016.
