Province stays its drug-policy course
As Alberta deaths hit record high, minister sticks to recovery model
Alberta's addiction minister says the province remains focused on its recovery model, even as the number of drug deaths in the province hit a record high last year, according to updated data.
The most recent figures show a total of 2,052 Albertans died of drug poisoning from January to December 2023, a 17 per cent increase over 2022. Those numbers include deaths due to any substance, including opioids but also methamphetamine and cocaine, among others.
On Tuesday, Mental Health and Addiction Minister Dan Williams defended the government's approach to dealing with the opioid crisis.
“We're going to continue to work on the recovery model and make sure that we scale it up and build it out because we really have only just started when it comes to implementing the infrastructure,” he told reporters inside the legislature.
Williams said the number of drug-related deaths has shown a general declining trend since peaking at 198 deaths in April of last year.
“We're cautiously optimistic that we're trending in the right direction.”
Opioid deaths account for the vast majority of drug deaths in 2023 at 1,849, with fentanyl being found in more than 93 per cent of cases.
New data were added to the government's dashboard last Friday ahead of the Victoria Day long weekend in the first update since the end of February.
Williams denied the ministry was delaying when the numbers were released.
“My understanding is that it's the office of the medical examiner that looks at the toxicology scans and reports. I don't have any influence on that decision in terms of the timeline.”
Similar to the government's data dashboard during the early stages of the COVID -19 pandemic, numbers on its substance-use surveillance system are retroactively adjusted, typically higher, as more toxicology results are processed in the subsequent weeks, and more deaths become attributed to drug poisoning.
Williams cited lower numbers of deaths in the first two months of 2024 compared to previous years. He acknowledged those figures could rise in the weeks to come, but said he believes the numbers will continue to improve.
“We're pretty confident that we have a good sense of the trend over the last couple of months.”
Alberta NDP critic for mental health and addiction Janet Eremenko said the data showed the government's approach to addictions is failing.
“The UCP continues to double down on their one-size-fits-all approach to addiction. It clearly is not good enough,” she said in a statement, adding “this is a public health crisis, and it's time this government acts like it.
“We need transparent and timely reporting, and we need a government that is willing to change course when faced with the heartbreaking reality of its current policies.”
Last year was Edmonton's deadliest year for drug-poisoning deaths with 743 deaths compared to 715 in 2021, 663 in 2022, and 487 in 2020.
August saw the most deaths with 81 followed by September and March with 73 each.
The data show there were 104 drug-poisoning deaths in the city in the first two months of 2024, pending further revisions, compared to 96 over the same time in 2023.