Teenage girl dies from suspected drug overdose in Victoria: coroner

The B.C. Coroners Service has confirmed that a teenage girl died from a suspected drug overdose in Victoria this week.

The girl, believed to be 17, died on Wednesday, said coroner Barb McLintock.

“I can confirm the death of a teenage girl is under investigation,” McLintock said. “A drug overdose is one possibility being explored. It is much too early to know what drugs may or may not have been involved.”

Victoria police referred inquiries back to the coroners service.

There were 755 apparent illicit drug overdoses in B.C. between Jan. 1 and Nov. 30, according to the coroners service, an increase of more than 70 per cent over the same period last year. Fentanyl, a synthetic opioid, has been linked to more than 60 per cent of all illicit drug deaths to the end of October.

Last month saw a total of 128 overdose deaths, or an average of more than four a day. Thirteen people died from overdoses in one day in Vancouver last week.

Greater Victoria has also been hard hit, recording 60 overdose deaths so far this year, trailing only Vancouver at 164 and Surrey at 92. Nanaimo has had 25 deaths.

The Vancouver Island Health Authority has the highest drug overdose rate among health regions with 19.7 deaths per 100,000 people from January to November — an increase of 153 per cent over last year.

Fentanyl is in everything, said Our Place Society spokesman Grant McKenzie.

“You really can’t trust ecstacy, cocaine, crystal meth — any of that stuff,” he said. “There’s no longer a safe way for kids to experiment. Your first time could be your last time.”

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