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By Shaun Penner

Opioid Crisis

One death linked to opioids in Grande Prairie in August

Oct 29, 2021 | 2:09 PM

New data released by Alberta Health Friday shows one person died as a result of acute opioid poisoning in Grande Prairie in August 2021, the lowest recorded monthly total since April of 2020.

The new figures bring Grande Prairie’s death toll from opioids in the first eight months of 2021 to 31. Five of those fatalities each came in March, June and July; four came in February, April, and May; while two were recorded in January.

READ MORE: Opioid-related EMS responses more than tripled in Grande Prairie last week says Northreach Society

Of those 31 opioid-linked deaths recorded so far this year in Grande Prairie, 30 are linked to non-pharmaceutical opioids such as fentanyl and its analogues, heroin, and designer opiates.

Over the last calendar year, from September 2020 to August 2021, a total of 49 people in the city have died as a result of opioid-related poisoning. Also, the figures for this year keep the city just shy of the record 33 deaths linked to opioids recorded in all of 2020.

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This chart shows the number of drug poisoning deaths per month in Grande Prairie since January 2020 (Courtesy of Alberta Health)

Province-wide, there were 115 deaths linked to opioids in August. Opioids have now been linked to 937 deaths in Alberta during the first eight months of 2021, 905 of which are linked to non-pharmaceutical opioids.

Alberta also recorded a record year for opioid poisoning deaths in 2020, with 1,144 being linked to opioids and a total of 1,316 linked to all drugs.