Fentanyl crisis shows no signs of relenting
Alberta’s opioid crisis started the new year on the same tragic path as it ended the previous one, with dozens of new overdose deaths and continued questions for a government struggling to contain the growing calamity.
A total of 74 Albertans died from an accidental fentanyl-related overdose during the first six weeks of 2018, show new provincial statistics released Thursday.
That’s up substantially from the 56 deaths recorded in the same time period last year, although also an improvement on the 119 deaths reported in the final six weeks of 2017. Still, if 2018 proceeds in a similar way to the previous year, provincial authorities can expect to see climbing rates of fatal overdoses through the spring, summer and fall.
All told, 589 Albertans died from fentanyl poisonings in 2017 — and at least another 125 from other types of opioids — equating to nearly two deaths per day.
“Substance use is claiming the lives of men and women in the inner city, the suburbs and in rural Alberta,” associate health minister Brandy Payne told a news conference at Edmonton’s 99ten bar. “We are losing mothers, fathers and children. We can’t ignore this crisis.”
Of the 74 deaths recorded in the first six weeks of this year, 36 occurred in the Calgary zone and 25 in the Edmonton region.
The province has taken a number of measures over the past year to combat the opioid crisis, including new supervised consumption sites, increasing the distribution of naloxone kits and expanding access to treatment for opioid use disorder.
On Thursday, Payne announced a further $1.4-million step that will provide 29 agencies and community groups with grants to raise awareness.
Chief medical officer of health Dr. Karen Grimsrud said the projects chosen will tackle a number of needs, including reducing stigma around addiction and helping more Albertans learn how to recognize and stop an overdose.
Providing grants to community agencies is one of the recommendations of the Minister’s Opioid Emergency Response Commission. Initially, the plan was to distribute $500,000, but so many promising applications (115) were submitted that the province decided to increase funding, Grimsrud said.
“I think it speaks to the fact that communities across Alberta are recognizing this is a crisis that impacts people close to home and a lot of people want to be part of the solution,” Payne added. “The ones that were awarded capture a wide variety of different projects and different target audiences.”
The grants range from $10,000 to $100,000.
Included is a $70,000 award to Edmonton-based Indigo Harm Reduction Services, which plans to use the money to create educational videos for nightlife and festival staff.
Founder Shelby Young said her group, which has been operational for less than year, has been training bar staff and others in the entertainment industry to spot an overdose in progress and deliver naloxone.
“This allows people to get more comfortable so they are not shaking or forgetting what to do.”
The ones that were awarded capture a wide variety of different projects and different target audiences.