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By Scott Roblin

Opioid Deaths

HIV Community Link concerned with doubling of provincial opioid deaths

Sep 25, 2020 | 5:22 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB – Concerning numbers released by the province this week regarding opioid overdose deaths in Alberta aren’t coming as a shock to those in the drug rehabilitation community.

On Wednesday, the province released their second quarter statistics regarding opioid overdoses and fatalities which showed a substantial increase over the span of just a few months.

Between April and June, over 300 Albertans passed away as a result of an overdose which was twice as many deaths compared to just the first quarter of 2020.

“Unfortunately, this report was not a surprise at all to us,” said HIV Community Link executive director Leslie Hill. “The organizations that do this work across the province have been talking about the number of people that we’re hearing about who have passed away. We have a community who is really devastated and grieving the loss of their loved ones.”

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Fentanyl has been identified as the main contributor of the second quarter deaths, making up 94 percent of the fatal incidents involving opioids.

From top to bottom, HIV Community Link has been seeing the effects of the pandemic play out with more people turning to highly addictive substances over the last six months.

“We hear across the board that people are struggling with the impacts of the pandemic,” said Hill. “There’s more depression, there’s more anxiety, people are stressed out, there’s lots of folks who have lost their jobs.”

Over 200 of those deaths have occurred in Calgary and Edmonton, however the opioid crisis has touched Medicine Hat as well.

Five deaths related to fentanyl have been confirmed in Medicine Hat since the beginning of the year and while that number may seem low compared to the rest of the province, HIV Community Link remains concerned due to Medicine Hat’s smaller population.

Hill said Medicine Hat is seeing occasional spikes as well, often due to drugs like fentanyl coming down the Trans-Canada Highway.

“Things will be quiet for a while and then a batch of drugs will come through the city that’s particularly toxic and you’ll see a number of deaths in a relatively short time frame,” she said. “So, the numbers can be really stable and then spike really quickly. That just speaks to the unpredictability of the drug supply and the need to have consistent services available to people at all times.”

HIV Community Link shifted services to street outreach over the spring months during the start of the pandemic, something they said saw good participation.

However, the need for support when it comes to addictions and mental health treatment is at an all-time high in Alberta according to Hill.

“I think the gap in terms of where people knew to access services would have had a really significant impact,” she said. “Now, I think there’s the potential that people are a little bit more settled into this new rhythm. I would be concerned about changes going into the winter when services change a little bit, or if we have a second wave and services become more restricted again.”

Hill urges those who struggle with opioid addictions locally to not use alone, to have a naloxone kit on standby, and to seek help from community supports when it comes to treatment.