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But some experts and advocacy groups worry there could be an increase in opioid-related deaths during the pandemic, a trend that has already borne out in provinces such as Ontario and B.C. In the latter province, there was a 130 per cent increase in June overdose deaths compared to June of last year.
Petra Schulz, co-founder of Moms Stop The Harm, said the number of recently bereaved families who have reached out to the organization has skyrocketed in recent months.
“In Ontario and B.C., where we have specifics, we’ve seen overdose deaths like never before,” Schulz said.
“We don’t have numbers in Alberta, which we really should have right now, but one can only assume that the overdose rates here in Alberta are bad as well.”
Though statistics past March are not yet available, AHS issued a health warning in June for the Edmonton region following a spike in opioid overdoses and deaths, particularly involving carfentanil, a drug AHS says is about 100 times as potent as fentanyl. It’s tied to 16 deaths in the Edmonton area in the last week of May and first week of June alone.
Donald MacPherson, director of the Canadian Drug Policy Coalition, said the reason for the spike in overdoses is likely twofold.
When the border closed, the drug supply in Canada became more dangerous as more drugs were made or altered in Canada, he said, but pandemic restrictions also saw safe injection sites and methadone clinics offering more limited services or closing altogether to prevent the spread of COVID-19, leaving drug users isolated with more toxic drugs.
