VICTORIA — The British Columbia Coroners Service says 182 people died in April from drug overdoses.

A statement from the service says the toll represents a 24 per cent decrease in deaths from April 2023, but “the risk posed by unregulated drug supply remains very high.”

It says in the eight years since the public-health emergency was declared, 14,582 people in the province have died from toxic drugs, including 763 in the first four months of this year.