Situation 'heartbreaking' as 168 more Albertans die of drug poisoning: physician

Since the start of the year, 1,169 Albertans have died of drug poisoning deaths, including 168 in the month of July, according to new data from the province's substance use surveillance system.

The number of deaths recorded over the first seven months of the same period last year was 1,021, making this year's figure a 14.5 per cent increase.

For those working at street level, including Calgary family physician Bonnie Larson, such numbers were to be expected.

"The numbers are hard, difficult, heartbreaking, but not surprising, because I am out there on the frontline in Calgary anyway, and seeing firsthand the impact of all of it. It's a complicated landscape," Larson said.

There were 57 drug poisoning deaths in Calgary in July, compared to 58 in Edmonton. So far this year, Calgary has seen the most deaths across the province, with 419 in the first seven months of the year compared to Edmonton's 376.

The province has already set several grim records amid the crisis. Alberta poisoning deaths in April due to opioids hit 194, the highest number since the province started collecting data in 2016. 

The surveillance system is updated on a monthly basis as data is received from the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, according to the province. Data is usually received about eight weeks after the end of the month.

What drug testing and wastewater testing is revealing right now is that there's a higher amount of drugs such as carfentanil in the supply than ever before, according to Dr. Monty Ghosh, an addictions specialist who practises in both Edmonton and Calgary.

"The drug supply is incredibly toxic, and it keeps shifting week by week. It's very hard to predict what's happening with the drug supply. And so I'm not surprised by these numbers," Ghosh said.

"If you look at some of the predictions that Health Canada is making in terms of the modelling … these numbers are just going to continue to rise."

The presence of contaminants in the drug supply means that a co-ordinated, multi-pronged response must be deployed, in Ghosh's view.

"We really need to have a system in place where we can alert people to the toxic drug supply. We need to have a system in place where people are aware of the substances that they're using," Ghosh said.

"We also need to limit the toxic drug supply as a whole, if we can."

In a statement, a spokesperson for Mental Health and Addiction Minister Dan Williams highlighted the province's commitment to its recovery-oriented model of care. 

"Since 2019, more than 10,000 treatment spaces have been added and are helping free Albertans from the deadly disease of addiction, with more on the way through the opening of 11 recovery communities throughout the province," Hunter Baril wrote.

"These facilities, along with any other publicly funded treatment centre, offer addiction treatment at no cost. Financial barriers should never hold someone back from accessing the life-saving treatment they need."

CBC News requested more information on how many people are currently waiting on beds, how many people accessed treatment last year and how many people completed treatment in 2022.

Baril said the government is still working with operators to implement an online tool, called My Recovery Plan, that it anticipates will provide an accurate depiction of province-wide data.

"Once a comprehensive data set is available it will be published publicly," he wrote. "As this is the first year of implementation, we do not have data from previous years, and look forward to showing outcomes in the future."