Health posted Jun 29, 2025 @ 03:15pm by Josh Duncan

Penticton on pace for fewest drug overdose deaths in a decade

Recently-published data from the BC Coroners Service shows that there were four deaths from unregulated toxic drugs in Penticton through the first four months of 2025.

While any amount of deaths can be considered too many, the statistics for Penticton mark a stark improvement on the numbers over the past five years.

Penticton is on pace for 12 deaths in 2025, which would be the city’s lowest yearly number of toxic drug deaths in a decade.

<who>Photo Credit: Interior Health

Here’s how those totals break down by year for Penticton since British Columbia’s toxic drug crisis officially became a public health emergency in April 2016:

2025 - 4 (Jan. through Apr. only)
2024 - 26
2023 - 24
2022 - 31
2021 - 27
2020 - 17
2019 - 21
2018 - 16
2017 - 15
2016 - 7

Looking at the situation provincially, the BC Coroners Service reports that 165 people died from illicit drug overdoses in April.

That’s the highest total since September 2024, ending a six-month streak of less than 160 deaths per month.

Between July 2022 and September 2024, British Columbia reported over 190 deaths from unregulated toxic drugs every month, with the peak being 240 fatalities in April 2023.

Send your comments, news tips, typos, letter to the editor, photos and videos to [email protected].