Alberta RCMP responded to twice the number of overdose calls in 2023 compared to previous year

Alberta RCMP say they've seen a more than 100-per cent increase in the number of overdoses they've responded to in 2023 compared to the previous year.

On Wednesday Alberta RCMP said they were calledto 1,026 suspected drug overdoses between January 2023 and November 2023, compared to 511 throughout all of 2022.

RCMP are not the only body that responds to overdose calls local police jurisdictions including the Calgary Police Service, Edmonton Police Service and Alberta Health Services also respond to overdose calls.

"Even just in our jurisdictions, what we've had to respond to it has gone up," said Cpl. Mathew Howell, Alberta RCMP public information officer.

According to data from the province's substance use surveillance system, between January and September 2023, 1,411 people have died of opioid poisoning deaths.

The surveillance system is updated as data is received from the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.

RCMP say many of the overdoses are due, in part, to Alberta's fentanyl supply being cut with other drugs that are easier and cheaper to access. That, they say, means moredoses of naloxone are needed to save a person's life.

Naloxone, also known as Narcan, reverses effects of an opioid and can stop an overdose.

"We're just trying to kind of give that warning to people that there are some other aspects that we're seeing now. There's other things being mixed in. It's not always going to be your normal fentanyl dose. It's not always going to be just fentanyl," Howell said.

"Unfortunately, the fentanyl supply is so volatile and so unpredictable that people are struggling with just the dosage rates," said Euan Thomson, an independent Calgary researcher who writes the Drug Data Decoded newsletter.

He said it's hard to know exactly what is in street drugs, due to lack of regulation, but rat poison, sugars, caffeine, and benzodiazepines are all possibilities.

He added that some fentanyl poisonings do require more naloxone than they had previously, but he advised people to continue to carry and use it.