VANCOUVER — The BC Coroners Service is offering a sliver of hope in otherwise horrific statistics of drug overdose deaths in the province.
A new report identifies 42 apparent illicit drug overdose deaths in May, fewer than each of the previous four months.
The number is also consistent with drug deaths recorded in May 2014 and May 2015, before the recent spike in fatalities.
However, the coroner says 308 people died in B.C. from accidental illicit drug overdoses between January and May, a 75 per cent increase over the 176 deaths in the same period last year.
The coroner's report shows fentanyl was involved in 56 per cent of deaths in the first four months of this year but just five per cent of deaths were linked to the drug in 2012.
B.C.'s public health officer declared a health emergency in April due to the soaring numbers of drug-related deaths in the province.
