Fatal overdoses from unregulated drugs experienced a decline in Nanaimo, Island Health, and across British Columbia last year.
The B.C. Coroners Service reported 94 deaths in Nanaimo from unregulated drugs in 2024, after 114 in 2023. This marks the first time the city experienced a decline since 2019, when fatal overdoses dropped from 56 to 38.
For Island Health, overdose deaths went down from 487 in 2023 to 446 in 2024. Provincially, the numbers dropped from 2,568 in 2023 to 2,253 in 2024.
In a press release, Dr. Jatinder Baidwan, B.C.'s chief coroner, said the numbers are consistent with other jurisdictions in Canada and internationally.
“This doesn’t mitigate the fact that 2,253 members of our communities died in 2024, leaving behind grieving loved ones, friends, colleagues and teammates," Baidwan said. "Our thoughts are with all of those many, many people who have been touched by this crisis.”
The report noted that fentanyl was detected in 78 per cent of the deaths that had undergone expedited toxicology testing, followed by cocaine in 52 per cent, fluorofentanyl in 46 per cent and meth in 43 per cent. Seventy-four per cent of people who died were men, and 70 per cent were between the ages of 30-59.
Dr. Réka Gustafson, Island Health's chief medical health officer, said due to the lack of regulation around street drugs, it's hard to know exactly what's causing the decline.
"What we do know, is that when there's an increase in deaths, it's often associated with an increase in toxicity of the drugs," Gustafson said. "So one hypothesis is the drug supply has become slightly more predictable and perhaps slightly less concentrated."
That hypothesis is shared by Dr. Jess Wilder, a doctor in families and addiction medicine, and co-founder of Doctors for Safer Drug Policy, which is responsible for setting up unsanctioned overdose prevention sites at Island Health hospitals.
"One possible explanation is that the drug supply is changing," she said in a statement. "Why that might be, I couldn't start to speculate on. We are certainly seeing the fentanyl supply contaminated with an increased number of other substances than ever before. A more devastating answer may be that we have reached 'mortality saturation,' meaning those at highest risk of death from this crisis have already died."
While numbers have declined, Gustafson noted that they remain higher than they were before the provincial government declared a public health emergency in 2016 due to the significant rise in opioid-related overdose deaths.
"While there has been a flattening and a bit of a decline, and it's a very, very welcome decline, I think it's important to remember it's after several years of a very significant increase," Gustafson said.
Moving forward to address the crisis, she said Island Health intends to continue to provide overdose prevention services in a systematic way, and ensure access to withdrawal and treatment services.
"The other thing that we really need to invest in is services to improve youth resilience," she said. "The services that ensure that our youths have the resilience to have healthy relationships with substances in their lives and hopefully prevent substance-use disorders and addictions that put people at risk of overdose deaths."
Josie Osborne, B.C.'s minister of health, issued a statement saying that the decrease "no way diminishes grief that permeates our communities."
“This public health emergency touches every corner of our province. Addiction can be influenced by many factors, including housing challenges, the cost of living, mental and physical pain, and intergenerational trauma," she said. "By addressing these issues openly and expanding supports, we can help reduce the stigma around substance use and encourage individuals to seek help rather than struggle in addiction."
