Two drug overdose deaths have been reported in Lethbridge for May 2025. (Photo: Moussa81 | Dreamstime.com)

By David Opinko

DRUG OVERDOSE

Alberta reports two drug overdose deaths in Lethbridge in May

Sep 5, 2025 | 7:19 AM

Although it still marks the lowest year-to-date total in at least the last decade, two people in Lethbridge died due to drug overdoses in May 2025.

That is according to the Alberta Government’s latest substance use surveillance system report.

A total of four people in the city have lost their lives due to drug consumption in the first five months of this year, with one each in January and February.

The province began tracking these statistics in 2016, and 2025 has the lowest number of deaths in that time so far.

Compare that to the peak in 2023 when 65 people died between January and May.

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Drug overdose deaths in Lethbridge between January and May, 2016-2025. (Source: Alberta Substance Use Surveillance System. Compiled by LNN)

Lethbridge’s Overdose Prevention Site was visited 11,816 times in the first quarter of this year. By contrast, the former ARCHES Supervised Consumption Site recorded 66,168 visits in Q4 2019.

Both of the deaths in Lethbridge in the first quarter occurred in what the report categorizes as “other facility,” which can include shelters, some types of supportive housing, or a private residence where the ownership is unclear.

EMS was called out to 25 opioid-related events in the city in the first three months of 2025, which is down from 39 in the same period last year.

Across Alberta, fentanyl was detected in the victim’s body 93 per cent of the time, while carfentanil was found in 68 per cent of cases, and methamphetamine 65 per cent.

More than three-quarters of victims (77.7 per cent) were men, while the most common age group is 40-44.

The full report can be found online here.