First Nations people are disproportionately represented in toxic drug poisoning deaths, according to new data from the First Nations Health Authority's 2022 Toxic Drug Data for First Nations people in B.C.
The chief medical officer of British Columbia's First Nations Health Authority says the toxic drug crisis in 2022 was the most devastating year so far for Indigenous people, their families, and communities.
First Nations people represent 3.3 per cent of B.C.'s population, but the health authority said 16.4 per cent of those who died from overdoses last year were Indigenous.