Saskatchewan sees another record year for overdose deaths in 2021
Global News
464 people in Saskatchewan died from confirmed or suspected drug overdoses in 2021. That's the deadliest year yet, beating the previous record set in 2020.
A record number of people died from overdoses in Saskatchewan in 2021.
464 people died in Saskatchewan from confirmed or suspected drug overdoses last year, according to the Saskatchewan Coroners Service.
The previous record was set in 2020 when 327 people died. 179 people died in 2019.
The executive director of Saskatoon’s only supervised consumption site said the new death toll didn’t surprise him.
“This is the new norm,” Jason Mercredi said. “We (need) to start acting like it.”
Mercredi said deadlier drugs — like fentanyl — are to blame.
But he also says it’s the fault of the provincial government for not funding harm reduction programs.
Coroner’s office statistics show 111 people died from overdoses in Regina and just 61 in Saskatoon.