Fentanyl deaths continue to plague Alberta

With this year looking to be about as costly as the last in terms of fentanyl-related deaths in Alberta, officials say the street-level drug scourge remains a significant concern.

From Jan. 1 through to the end of March this year, Alberta saw 69 deadly fentanyl overdoses, which Alberta Health Services said is consistent with what was seen during the same three months of 2015, when 77 fatalities were linked to the especially toxic and dangerous opioid.

“We are starting to see, in comparison to last year, a bit of a softening or a lessening of the rate ... It is still a very significant concern — one we are taking very seriously,” said Barry Andres, AHS Addiction and Mental Health executive director.

Fentanyl was detected in 274 overdose deaths in Alberta last year — up significantly from previous years, with 120 in 2014, 66 in 2013, 29 in 2012 and just six in 2011.

Calgary saw the lion’s share of those deaths.

The exact breakdown in terms of where this year’s fentanyl-related deaths are occurring hasn’t been made available.

About four per cent of clients coming through Alpha House, a shelter and detox facility in Calgary’s Beltline community, use the deadly street drug, executive director Kathy Christiansen said.

“We are seeing it,” Christiansen said.

“The concern is not so much the number (of clients using it) but the toxicity of that drug itself ... It’s a much riskier substance to be partaking in.”

Naloxone, an opioid overdose antidote, is seeing more use and saving more lives since it was made readily available in Alberta — now available without a prescription from many pharmacies across the province as well as various agencies.

Prior to that change in May, Naloxone injection kits were dispensed at an average of about 20 per week.

In June, that number more than doubled, to an average of about 48 per week.

In the U.S., where there’s been a similar rise in fentanyl abuse and opioid abuse in general, the antidote is also available in the form of a nasal spray, which has become the preferred method of delivery.

In Calgary, local pharmacists have told Postmedia it would also be their preferred method of delivery, and are awaiting a decision from Health Canada on whether to approve its use.