A substance being sold as cocaine but containing fentanyl has caused multiple “overdose incidents and fatalities” across Interior Health, according to an alert published Thursday.
Interior Health sent the alert to its entire coverage area, noting that the white powder contains fentanyl and puts its unwitting users at risk of a fatal overdose, amnesia, sleepiness, heavy snoring and nodding out for a long time.
The alert is in effect until April 20.
According to the latest data from the BC Coroners Service, there were eight illicit drug deaths in Kelowna in January, three in Vernon and two in Penticton.
The Interior Health Authority, which the Okanagan falls within, saw 31 deaths in total.
In 2022, 87 people died in Kelowna, compared with 76 a year earlier. Vernon saw 40 people die in 2022 from toxic drugs, which was a slight improvement from a year earlier, when 42 people died. Penticton saw 27 illicit drug deaths.
The high rate of deaths is consistent with what is happening in other parts of the province.
Provincewide, the BC Coroners Service reported that 211 people died in January, bringing the number of deaths to at least 11,195 since the public health emergency was declared in 2016.
A statement from the coroner’s office says the death rate in January was 47 people per 100,000, more than double the 20.5 death rate that prompted B.C.’s medical health officer to declare the emergency almost seven years ago.