Sask. woman recovering from addiction fears for her sister as drug crisis sweeps through province

Every day Meagan Jasper wakes up wondering if her younger sister is still alive.

She says her sibling Brooke was a good kid who only ever wanted to become a mother. 

Jasper, who is recovering from addiction, lives in Moose Jaw, Sask., around 70 kilometres west of Regina.

She said Brooke, her only sister, supported her when she was hooked on drugs.

But the trauma from an abusive relationship resulted in Brooke struggling with addiction herself, bringing her to a point where she is now overdosing several times a week, Jasper said.

Now Jasper is terrified about Brooke being out somewhere on Regina's streets overdosing, and potentially not having enough Narcan to save her.

"It's scary not knowing if I'm going to wake up to that phone call or to a rest in peace post about her," said Jasper.

"I wake up every day, and my social media is full of rest in peace [posts]. And it's young people, it's a whole generation, like generations, that are being wiped out right now."

As of Sept. 30 this year, there have been 336 deaths linked to overdoses in the province — 116 confirmed drug toxicity deaths and 220 suspected fatal overdoses — according to the most recent report from the Saskatchewan Coroners Service.

Last year the province reported 409 confirmed or suspected drug toxicity deaths for all of 2021.

Now Saskatchewan's Chief Coroner Clive Weighill said he anticipates the province will see yet another year-over-year increase in the deaths.

"I would expect that we're going to see a number probably into the mid to high four hundreds," said Weighill.

"I think it's a problem right across Canada."

Fentanyl plays a big role in the rising numbers, with the opioid being 50 to 100 times more toxic than others such as heroin or morphine, according to the province.