Sask. could see even more overdose deaths this year than in 2021, report suggests - Action News
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Saskatchewan

Sask. could see even more overdose deaths this year than in 2021, report suggests

Saskatchewan may see even more deaths from drug overdoses this year than in2021, a new report suggests an alarmingtrend one organization sayspoints to the urgent need for services to help people using substances.

'Until we do something different, we're not going to see anything different': Prairie Harm Reduction director

A closeup shows the hands of a person, wearing a purple rubber bracelet, holding a kit containing a syringe and medicine.
The Saskatchewan Coroners Service has reported 302 confirmed and suspected drug toxicity deaths in the province during the first eight months of 2022. (Ben Nelms/CBC)

Saskatchewan may see even more deaths from drug overdoses this year than in2021, a new report suggests an alarmingtrend one organization sayspoints to the urgent need for services to help people using substances.

As of Aug.31 this year, there have already been a total of 302 deaths linked to overdoses 92 confirmed drug toxicity deaths and 210 suspected fatal overdoses according to a report from the Saskatchewan Coroners Service.

That compares with a total of 409confirmed orsuspected overdose deaths in all of 2021 a number that itself was more than double what the province saw two years earlier.

The executive director for Prairie Harm Reduction in Saskatoon is not surprised by the most recent numbers.

"We've seen this trend forming over the last eight-and-a-half months and we started predicting this outcome early in the spring," said Kayla DeMong, whose organizationoperates Saskatchewan's firstsupervised consumption site.

"Until we do something different, we're not going to see anything different."

Earlier this summer the Saskatchewan Coroners Service reported a total of 251 confirmed and suspected fatal overdoses in 2022 up to July 4 indicating an increase of 51 deaths within the two months of July and August.

While investigations into suspected overdose deaths continue, DeMong says her organization continues to advocate for funding for safe consumption sites in Saskatchewan.

"The province has continued to invest heavily in treatment, but not properly providing support to organizations working with people while they're using substances still," she said.

"Until we start to properly support people that are using substances while they're using, we will continue to see an increase in overdose deaths in our province."

The number of confirmed drug toxicity deaths in the province has been on the rise for the last six years, according to the Saskatchewan Coroners Service (SCS). The statistics for 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022 are preliminary since not all death investigations for these years have been concluded, says SCS. (Saskatchewan Coroners Service)

Earlier this year, the province said it hadput $470 million toward mental health and addictions services for 2022 and 2023, including $67 million toward harm reduction, prevention, detox and treatment initiatives.

In March, Prairie Harm Reductionwas left out of the province's 2022-23 budget.

According to its statistical report, Prairie Harm Reduction counted 3,680 visits to its supervised consumption service in 2021.

So far there have been no fatal overdoses at the facility, DeMong says.

However, she added, "we have seen kind of month over month from when we opened pretty steady increases to access and services."

Most confirmed fatal overdoses in Regina

According to the report from coroners service, Regina remains the place in Saskatchewan with the most confirmed drug toxicity deaths in 2022.

As of the end of August, 30 people in the city have died this year of a drug overdose, compared with 22 in Saskatoon and seven in Lloydminster.

Last year, theSaskatchewan Coroners Service reported 191 confirmed drug toxicity deaths inRegina and 112 in Saskatoon.

The Nwo Ytina Friendship Centre opened its overdose prevention site in Regina last year.

However, options for rural communities such as mobile sites are currently lacking, DeMong says.

"The other huge gap that continues to contribute to this in our province is that the population of people who are using substances are predominantly [the] homeless population or precariously housed population," she said, "and we just don't have targeted services for them."

A smiling person with long hair and wearing a black T-shirt, a long silver necklace and blue jeans leans against a brick wall on a sunny city street.
Kayla DeMong, the executive director at Prairie Harm Reduction, says she is not surprised overdose deaths show no signs of slowing down. (Submitted by Kayla DeMong)

With files from Jennifer Francis