Saskatchewan overdoses on the decline, province now monitoring benzodiazepines

Overdose rates are down successful 2024 compared to 2023, but the Saskatchewan Coroners Service is present keeping way and reporting connected a cause that’s been astir for decades.

So acold this year, determination person been 233 confirmed and suspected overdose deaths. In 2023, determination were 462 according to the coroner’s office.

Benzodiazepines are present being monitored by the province, providing much item to the nationalist connected overdoses successful your community.

Benzodiazepines are a people of medications that dilatory down enactment successful the encephalon and tense system. The illustration presently shows zero deaths.

Global News reached retired to the coroners work but were told they can’t marque immoderate comments during the writ period.

The Newo Yotina Friendship Centre offers escaped cause investigating and said they saw a spike of benzodiazepines mixed with fentanyl and opioids successful the summertime months.

“Probably astir 90 per cent of each the fentanyl that we’re investigating has a hint of benzodiazepine,” Emile Gariepy with the centre said.

Gariepy said benzos aren’t arsenic lethal arsenic fentanyl but it’s inactive risky due to the fact that it makes naloxone little effective.

“We noticed the drugs that person benzodiazepine oregon xylazine successful it that we’re needing aggregate doses of naloxone (to assistance them),” helium said.

Trending Now

On Friday, the national authorities announced the exigency attraction money — a $150 cardinal money that volition assistance municipalities, First Nations, Metis, and Inuit communities code the opioid crisis.

“It volition supply assistance to wherever it volition marque the astir interaction and assistance enactment a wide scope of projects and services to respond to the urgent concern being faced connected the ground,” Ya’ara Saks, the curate intelligence wellness and addictions, said Friday.

Saskatchewan is besides moving to conflict the situation arsenic it began offering take-home cause investigating kits successful 2021. Those kits tin beryllium picked up astatine 30 antithetic pharmacy’s crossed the province.