(Dreamstime)

By David Opinko

South Zone has the highest rate of drug overdose deaths in Alberta

Dec 18, 2020 | 3:04 PM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – The latest report on substance consumption in the province reveals an unsettling distinction for Southern Alberta.

The Alberta substance use surveillance system says, across the province, 1,029 people have died as a result of drug poisoning so far in 2020. That includes 101 fatalities in October.

The South Zone has a much lower number of total drug poisoning deaths than in Calgary and Edmonton at 75, compared to 341 and 328 respectively.

As a percentage of population, however, the situation is quite different.

When accounting for the rate out of 100,000 residents, the South Zone is the highest of the five health regions at 32.2. The Edmonton Zone has the second-largest rate at 30.2.

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For at least the last five years, the is the first time that this has been the case for the South Zone.

In Lethbridge specifically, drug overdoses have claimed the lives of 46 people this year, just over twice what was reported in 2019 (21).

Three people in Lethbridge succumbed to overdoses in October, while the most in a single month was 10 back in June.

The latest batch of numbers gives the city a rate of 55.7 drug poisoning deaths per 100,000 residents.

In the first 10 months of this year, EMS has responded to 246 opioid-related events including 17 in October. The most occurred in July with 57 calls for service.

The Government of Alberta has launched a new interactive website with full details on substance use in the province. You can access it here.

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