YOUTH CASUALTIES RISING
With the onset of the pandemic in 2020, BC will exceed the record 1,547 drug toxicity deaths set in 2018. For every year since 2016, the number of deaths due to overdose in this province exceeds the rate of mortality from motor vehicle accidents, suicide and homicide combined. For young people, even casual and recreational use of drugs can have deadly effect. Young people struggling with addiction take their lives into their hands each and every day of continued use.