For the first time since January 2020, Grande Prairie has gone without reporting a life being taken by an accidental fatal drug poisoning.
In December the Alberta Substance Use Surveillance System there were zero deaths reported in connection to an accidental fatal drug poisoning in both August and September. In December the surveillance system had reported one death connected to a fatal drug poisoning in August, but in the past month, that number has been dropped to zero because of additional information.
This is the first time in 54 months the city has reported no deaths and the first time since 2019 the city has gone multiple months without having to report a life was accidentally lost to a drug poisoning.
From January to September of last year, there were 15 accidental fatal drug-related poisonings reported in the city, all caused by non-pharmaceutical opioids. According to the Alberta Substance Use Surveillance System, 2016 is the only year reported that had a lower number of lives lost from accidental fatal drug poisonings, with 11 reported.
Across Alberta, there were 94 deaths reported in August connected to opioid-related fatal drug poisonings and in the first eight months of the year, there have been 814 lives lost to accidental fatal drug poisoning.
