Saskatchewan overdoses on the decline, province now monitoring benzodiazepines
Global News
Benzodiazepines are now being monitored by the province, providing more detail to the public on overdoses in your community.
Overdose rates are down in 2024 compared to 2023, but the Saskatchewan Coroners Service is now keeping track and reporting on a drug that’s been around for decades.
So far this year, there have been 233 confirmed and suspected overdose deaths. In 2023, there were 462 according to the coroner’s office.
Benzodiazepines are now being monitored by the province, providing more detail to the public on overdoses in your community.
Benzodiazepines are a class of medications that slow down activity in the brain and nervous system. The chart currently shows zero deaths.
Global News reached out to the coroners service but were told they can’t make any comments during the writ period.
The Newo Yotina Friendship Centre offers free drug testing and said they saw a spike of benzodiazepines mixed with fentanyl and opioids in the summer months.
“Probably about 90 per cent of all the fentanyl that we’re testing has a trace of benzodiazepine,” Emile Gariepy with the centre said.
Gariepy said benzos aren’t as lethal as fentanyl but it’s still risky because it makes naloxone less effective.
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