Nobody died due to toxic drugs in the Kootenay-Boundary in August, according to figures from the BC Coroners Service.
However, two people died in the East Kootenay in July and one person died in the West Kootenay-Boundary. (Community-by-community breakdowns are only released twice per year.)
August was the second time in 2026 where there were no drug-related deaths in one full month. May was the other such month. East Kootenay did not see any deaths in March or April either.
The coroners service says here were 113 deaths across BC in July and in 126 in August.
Year to date, there have been nine deaths in the East Kootenay and 23 in West Kootenay-Boundary, contributing to a provincewide total of more than 1,000.
West Kootenay-Boundary still has the fifth highest death rate in the province this year by health subregion, following Northern Interior, Central Vancouver Island, Vancouver, and Fraser East.
So far this year, 69 per cent of the drug-related deaths in BC have been people aged 30 to 59 and just over three quarters were male.
The chart below from the coroners service shows monthly totals over the last year.
