
Alberta opioid deaths continue to decline from record high last year
CBC
Opioid deaths in Alberta continue to drop from their peak last year, according to the latest provincial statistics.
In September, 69 opioid deaths were reported, compared to 146 deaths in September 2023.
This represents the eighth consecutive month-over-month decrease.
The Alberta substance use surveillance system, shows a 38 per cent drop in opioid-related fatalities during the first nine months of this year, down to 886 from 1,430 during the same period last year.
The numbers are preliminary, however, and likely to change. It can take six months or longer for the medical examiner to determine a cause of death due to backlogs.
"In some of the communities where I work, there's less funerals, a lot less funerals," said Dr. John Webb, who practices addictions medicine in Standoff and Lethbridge, Alta.
"We don't know for certain what's caused the decrease in mortality and we can't say for certain what else we could do to continue that trend."
While there are likely a number of contributing factors, based on what he's hearing from patients, Webb believes the drug supply is becoming less potent.
"It's still a lot of people dying, it's just that we reached this new normal that was quite a nightmare. So it's a reduction, but every death from drug overdose is a tragedy," he said.
Calgary-based nurse practitioner Patty Wilson treats many patients with addictions.
"It continues to be unregulated drugs that are causing the deaths," she said.
She's been watching as other jurisdictions, including B.C. and Saskatchewan, also report a drop in drug fatalities.
"To my understanding a lot of the drug supply is very similar among those provinces. And so if we're seeing that drug supply stabilize — become less unpredictable — then we would expect to see those numbers decrease," Wilson said.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control is also reporting a reduction in overdose deaths.