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Two more die of suspected drug overdoses, bringing total to eight

Drugs are the probable cause of eight deaths in Greater Victoria in the past week, coroner Barb McLintock says. There have been one confirmed and seven suspected fatal overdoses since last Sunday, she said.
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The contents of a drug-overdose rescue kit. Several people who overdosed in Victoria recently were saved by naloxone, which reverses the effects of heroin and prescription painkillers.

Drugs are the probable cause of eight deaths in Greater Victoria in the past week, coroner Barb McLintock says.

There have been one confirmed and seven suspected fatal overdoses since last Sunday, she said.

The most recent involved a young woman in Sooke on Saturday afternoon, McLintock said. That morning, a man was found dead in one of the tents pitched on the lawn behind the provincial courthouse on Burdett Avenue.

“Most, if not all, of these people [who have died] are experienced drug users,” McLintock said, adding that authorities are waiting for background information on two of the deceased.

Victoria police responded to a sudden-death call involving a young adult man at the tent city about 9 a.m.

“Early indication is that it was an overdose but, just like any death, cause of death is investigated and determined by the coroner service,” said Const. Matt Rutherford.

“The death is not suspicious,” he added.

Autopsies are not necessary to confirm drug-related deaths, McLintock said. Results of expedited toxicology blood tests are available in 48 to 72 hours.

“We don’t release the body until we get preliminary toxicology back,” she said.

The string of eight deaths began with last Sunday’s overdose death of a man found in the Johnson Street parkade. His is the only confirmed drug death. The coroners’ service determined he died from a mixture of morphine, heroin, fentanyl, methamphetamine and cocaine.

“Drug cocktails are very dangerous,” McLintock said. “The more you mix, the worse things are likely to get.”

On Monday, a James Bay man and a person in the West Shore died. Two males were found dead in the same residence in the 300 block of Ker Avenue in Saanich on different days. A woman in her mid-40s was found dead in her Esquimalt home mid-week.

“Obviously, this is a very high number to have, eight in one week,” McLintock said.

“It certainly is concerning,” she added, especially since three of the deaths came within 24 hours.

Drug users who rely on street suppliers are “playing Russian roulette in a sense,” she said, given that it’s apparent the drugs out there are “particularly risky” right now.

Street nurses, Island Health and outreach agencies have been “working madly” to warn drug users, stressing they should not use drugs on their own and should obtain a supply of the drug antidote naloxone, she said.

Similar trends are being seen elsewhere in B.C.

Vancouver police said they suspect the drug fentanyl, which is 50 to 100 times more potent than other opioids, has contributed to the deaths of at least three people and an outbreak of non-fatal overdoses last week.

kdedyna@timescolonist.com

— With a file from The Canadian Press