Thirty-six people died of toxic drug poisonings last year in the West Kootenay according to annual data provided by the B.C. Coroners Service.
The Nelson local health area, which includes Salmo and the southern Slocan Valley, had nine fatalities in 2024. Trail's area, which includes Rossland, also had nine deaths.
Grand Forks followed with eight deaths and Castlegar had six, followed by three in Creston and one in the Arrow Lakes area that includes Nakusp.
The latest death toll is a slight decrease from 2023 when 40 people were killed.
There have been 217 deaths in the West Kootenay since the provincial government declared a drug crisis in 2016 prompted by the emergence of fentanyl.
The most deaths have occurred in Nelson and the surrounding area, where 64 people have been killed. Trail meanwhile has the second-most deaths at 49, followed by 42 in Grand Forks, 35 in Castlegar, 12 each in the Arrow Lakes and Creston areas, and three in the Kootenay Lake area that includes Kaslo.
In B.C., 2,253 people were killed by toxic drugs in 2024, with 16,328 having died since 2016.
