‘There's a lot of stigma towards people who use substances’

The use of unregulated drugs in British Columbia is claiming about five lives each day, according to a recent report.

Specifically, there were 145 suspected unregulated drug deaths in the province in May this year. That number increased to 147 in June, data from the B.C. Coroners Service show.

That equates to 4.7 deaths each day for May and 4.9 for June.

Workers in trades, transport, and equipment operation have historically been overrepresented in these deaths, accounting for about one in five of the deaths by illicit drug use over the past three years.

Sales and service workers, meanwhile, account for about 1 in 10 drug-related deaths .

More than half of these deaths have not been attributed to any industry, but the numb

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