The BC Coroners Service says Nanaimo and the surrounding district is recording the third highest number of fentanyl related deaths in the province.
There’s been 42 over the last 3 years, counting 13 this year alone.
A check of the fentanyl-detected deaths occurring in the first five months of the year showed that in 96 per cent of the cases, other illicit drugs, most often cocaine, were also present along with fentanyl.
The statistics show that the Northern Region of the mainland has the highest proportion of overdose deaths in which fentanyl is detected but the Island is in the number two spot.
