Grande Prairie lost three community members to unintentional drug poisonings in June, bringing the year-to-date total to 22. Of those, two deaths were related to opioids while the third was connected to cocaine.
That non-opioid-related death was the only one in the province in June, out of 99 fatal drug poisonings reported. As noted by Anna Junker with the Edmonton Journal, that month was the first since April 2020 for there to be fewer than 100 deaths.
June’s fatalities give the community a drug-related death rate of 46.6 per 100,000 people, the second highest in the province for major municipalities behind Edmonton at 47.1 per capita. Looking at opioid-related deaths only, the rate falls to 31.1, placing it fourth in the province behind Edmonton, Lethbridge, and Red Deer.
The provincial unintentional acute drug poisoning death rate was 26.3 per 100,000 people in June.
In the first quarter of 2022, there were 2,063 visits to the Supervised Consumption Site in Grande Prairie. There were 56 adverse events attended to, which could include supportive care offered, oxygen administered, naloxone administered, or an EMS response.
From August 1st to 21st, there were 12 EMS responses to opioid-related events in Grande Prairie.
The latest update from the Alberta substance use surveillance system comes just days ahead of the 6th annual Overdose Awareness Day in Grande Prairie. People will gather at The Community Village from 5 to 8 p.m. Friday, August 26th.