Today is International Overdose Awareness Day. It is a global event held to raise awareness about overdose related deaths and to address the stigma surrounding addiction.
Alberta has been slow to release information this year however in the first 3 months there were 142 apparent opioid-related deaths. This number is expected to be much larger for the second quarter.
British Columbia reported 911 opioid-related deaths through the month of July. These number continue to rise in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Saskatchewan has seen an increase as well. That province reported 179 overdose deaths to the beginning of August. This number is greater than the entire yearly death rate of the past 10 years.
With numbers still coming in and overdose rates in all jurisdictions on the rise, 2020 is set to mark the highest opioid-related death rates in modern history.