Opioid overdose deaths continue to rise across Alberta

CALGARY (660 NEWS) – New numbers out from Alberta Health show Calgary is still one of the hardest hit regions when it comes to the opioid epidemic.

In the Alberta Opioid Response Surveillance Report for Q4, 582 individuals died in Alberta from an apparent accidental drug poisoning related to fentanyl between Jan. 1 to Nov. 11, 2018. It’s up three per cent from 566 during the same period in 2017.

Breaking it down into weekly figures, it means there were 13 apparent accidental drug poisoning deaths every week or nearly two deaths every single day.

In the Calgary zone there were 271 deaths, a slight increase from 2017 when there were 267.

The city is also experiencing a rising rate of carfentanil-related drug poisoning deaths. According to Alberta Health Services, carfentanil is one of the most toxic opioids and studies have shown it to be more than 10,000 times more potent than morphine, and 100 times more potent than fentanyl, a dose smaller than a grain of salt, is enough to be fatal for humans. It is typically used by veterinarians to tranquilize and sedate farm animals.

Compared to the other zones that were examined in the report, Calgary topped the number of deaths related to carfentanil across the province at 90, in terms of percentage the city made up 60 per cent of a total of 149 deaths.

It’s more than 4 times the numbers Edmonton saw during the same time frame.

 

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