â–º Listen Live
â–º Listen Live

Fentanyl-related deaths in Lethbridge on the decline

Some good news when it comes to the number of people dying in Lethbridge from apparent accidental opioid overdoses related to fentanyl.

The second quarter Alberta Opioid Response Surveillance Report was released by the province this week.

It shows Lethbridge has seen 11 suspected fentanyl-related deaths during the first half of 2019 (January-June). That’s compared with 17 during the same six month period in 2018.

The report issued by Alberta Health, says there were 116 fentanyl-related deaths in Calgary in the first have of 2019. That is by far, the highest in the province.

The full report can be found here: 2019 Alberta Opioid Response Report

The report also goes through Supervised Consumption Sites. It indicates the Lethbridge SCS is, without a doubt, the most-heavily used in the province. The facility had record 248,012 visits between February 2018 until June 2019.

There’s no other Supervised Consumption Site in Alberta that even comes close to those numbers. The Lethbridge location has been said to also be the most heavily-used of its kind in North America if not the world.

Averaged out over the 16 months it’s been in operation, the Lethbridge SCS sees roughly 15,500 visits a month.

Overall however, in the second quarter of 2019, there were 153 apparent accidental poisoning deaths related to fentanyl in Alberta. By comparison, there were 135 of these deaths in the first quarter of 2019.

Patrick Siedlecki
Patrick Siedlecki
Pat has been a mainstay in the CJOC News department from the time the station launched in 2007. He's been in the position of News Director since then and has been anchoring daily news casts as well as reporting and working behind the scenes. Community is important to him and keeping CJOC listeners and readers informed about what's happening across southern Alberta and beyond. Pat has been in radio broadcasting for the past 24 years, starting in Port Alberni on Vancouver Island in 1997 and then moving up island to Nanaimo for another few years before heading to Lethbridge in 2007. Pat grew up in the small Saskatchewan farming town of Foam Lake. After high school, he went to Western Academy Broadcasting College (WABC) in Saskatoon prior to moving to the island. Pat also spent several years broadcasting hockey in the BCHL as well as seven years as the radio voice of the Lethbridge Hurricanes in the WHL. Pat has been working at Cornerstone Funeral Home in Lethbridge as a Certified Life Celebrant and Funeral Assistant since 2016. News and sports have always been Pat's passion from the time he was a teenager and he's always been grateful to have had the opportunity to make that part of what's been a fun and long radio career!
- Advertisement -

cjoc Now playing play

ckbd Now playing play

Related Articles

- Advertisement -

Latest News

ALERT seizes more than $250K worth of drugs in Medicine Hat

Police have seized more than $250,000 in drugs in Medicine Hat, following an investigation by ALERT.

Emissions reduction projects in Lethbridge, Coaldale receive federal funding

Ottawa has announced funding for projects aimed at reducing emissions in both Alberta and the Northwest Territories.

Street Wheelers Weekend revs up for another great year of burnouts, classic cruisin’

Get your motor running and head out to the city streets of Lethbridge, as the Street Wheelers Weekend revs up for another high-octane event.

Pair facing charges connected to guns, drugs seized in the Crowsnest Pass

Two people are facing charges connected to the seizure of drugs and weapons in the Crowsnest Pass. 

Pedestrian tunnel maintenance to impact University Drive

If your day-to-day travel takes you between Edgewood Boulevard and Garry Drive/Heritage Boulevard West, there will be single lane closures until Friday, as pedestrian tunnel maintenance will impact a part of University Drive.
- Advertisement -