Locals agreeThere were already too many people dying on the streets of Campbell River, British Columbia, before 13 people recently overdosed in the space of six and a half weeks.
The figure is astonishing for the little ones Vancouver Island city, where about 35,000 people live about 220 kilometers northwest of Victoria. He pushed the local RCMP detachment to issue a rare warning this month about what they suspect is a batch of particularly toxic drugs in the community.
For users, their families, friends and public health workers, the deaths are felt deeply in the small networks that people keep there to care for each other.
“I knew them all, we knew them all, they are our friends.” said Anne-Marie Levac, a Campbell River resident who uses crack cocaine.
The 13 deaths dramatically break a general pattern of decrease in the number of overdoses in the province, a trend that has been observed throughout Canada and the United States from the end of 2024.
He latest figures from the BC Coroners Service show that 21 people have died in Campbell River so far this year, as of the end of August. The increase since September 1 brings the number to 34.
More services for people with addiction could make a difference in bringing the numbers down, says Dr. Jacquie Erikson, a family physician who works in addiction medicine in Campbell River and visits other cities on northern Vancouver Island.
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Geography is one of the factors contributing to the higher rates of drug use in the city, with many users from other communities migrating south in search of the services Campbell River has, Erikson says. Some find toxic supplies there before finding help.
A harm reduction kiosk, a safe place to inject and smoke and a warming center are among what Erikson calls “connecting pieces” the city has recently lost.
“I’m really concerned that people are using alone in tents, in the woods, overdosing and dying that way, so I think the loss of services has really hurt our population.”
It will be some time before the BC Coroners Service, which is investigating the case.my september ddeaths, may point to exactly what killed those 13 people, but the RCMP says regardless of what investigators get, the poisonous supply and lingering random dangerous ingredients are concerning.
Campbell River RCMP issued a rare public warning this month after 11 suspicious deaths occurred in the area over a five-week span. Overdose deaths had decreased by early 2025 in British Columbia, but the supply of toxic substances continues to devastate, especially in the small Vancouver Island community.
As in other parts of British Columbia, fentanyl has been the biggest driver of overdoses.
Campbell River has two locations within a few blocks of each other for users to access harm reduction and drug testing services. But if people want to get support and stop using completely, the nearest detox center is in Nana.In my opinion, a 150 kilometer trip south.
As for providing more housing, the city and province say 48 new units have come online in Campbell River since late last year for people who have been sleeping outside or in shelters in the city for at least two years.
However, statistics from the British Columbia Coroners Service show that the majority of people who die from toxic drugs in British Columbia die in private residences. That’s why, for CHantal Costaz, mental health and the toxic supply itself are the main problems to be solved when it comes to keeping people alive.
Costaz watched his 20-year-old son Santos battle addiction on the streets of Campbell River.
The drugs “softened everything in his brain,” she says, before he was killed in 2022. She tried everything to get him treatment, she says.
“These people would not be dead if it were not for the supply of toxic drugs,” he said.
Santos was offered a bed in a center in Richmond, outside of Vancouver, but Costaz couldn’t get him there in time.
Santos died a few days later.
“You’d like to think that your son’s death had some impact and would start to change things,” he said.
Costaz says he honors his son by collecting and donating food and clothing to street users in Campbell River. She says she is just one of many people in the community doing what they can to fill the gaps they see in the drug crisis there.
But she says this recent surge seemed like a reminder that something is going dramatically wrong.
“All that made me remember again: how many more mothers?”
