The Government of Alberta is reporting 10 fatal drug overdoses in Lethbridge in May 2023. (Photo: Steveheap | Dreamstime.com)

By David Opinko

10 drug overdose deaths reported in Lethbridge in May 2023

Aug 4, 2023 | 8:22 AM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – The Government of Alberta continues to report high numbers of fatal drug overdoses in Lethbridge.

The province has updated its Substance Use Surveillance System report to include statistics for May 2023.

That month, a total of 10 people in Lethbridge died as a result of illicit drug use. That brings the year-to-date total for the city up to a record of 67.

Lethbridge recorded a new single-month record in April 2023 with 21 deaths.

The South Health Zone as a whole reported 21 overdose deaths in May and 107 for the first five months of the year.

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Provincially, those numbers were 151 and 770 respectively.

All of the above-listed year-to-date numbers represent new records for their jurisdictions.

There were 133 admissions to hospitals in the South Health Zone in the first quarter of 2023 due to substance use

Approximately 68.8 per cent of fatal overdose victims in Alberta were men and the most common age group was 35 to 29.

Alberta’s minister of mental health and addictions Dan Williams was issued his mandate letter from Premier Danielle Smith this week. It outlines the key priorities that he will work on throughout this tenure in the position.

Among the 21 points, Williams will continue work on creating 11 new addiction recovery communities throughout the province, expand addiction and mental health supports in schools, and further develop a recovery-oriented system of care.

READ MORE: Mandate letter issued to Alberta’s Minister of Mental Health and Addiction

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