Saskatchewan drug overdose deaths are on the rise again this year.

The province is trending towards record-breaking numbers, reporting 74 confirmed fatal overdoses and 189 suspected drug deaths since Jan. 1 2022, as of Aug. 2, according to Saskatchewan Coroners Service.

“We’ve seen about 263 deaths so far in Saskatchewan this year, if this continues the trend we’re looking at is around 500 deaths from drug toxicity or drug overdoses,” Clive Weighill, Chief Coroner for Saskatchewan, said.

Saskatchewan has seen a steady increase in overdose totals since 2016, reporting a huge jump between 2019 and 2020. In 2019, 179 deaths were reported, with that mark rising to 322 in 2020.

Overdose deaths rose again in 2021, hitting 388.

“When you speak to the numbers, if we were to do just basic math on it, we have the potential to hit 450 overdoses this year,” Marie Agioritis, the Saskatchewan lead for Moms Stop The Harm, said.

Moms Stop the Harm is an organization that supports a harm reduction approach, and calls for evidence based prevention, treatment and policy change to address the overdose crisis.

Agioritis attributes the increase in overdose deaths over the past few years to the pandemic, but not simply because of added free time and an increase in mental health concerns.

“During the pandemic itself, there was a supply chain issue. Supply chain wasn’t just restricted to steel and grain. Drugs were the same thing, she said.

“So you found more people mixing—ordering if they could get it, locally, or mixing more toxic chemicals into drugs to be able to meet the demand.”

According to the Coroners report, fentanyl is the number one drug associated with the deaths in 2022. Regina (23) and Saskatoon (19) have recorded the most deaths among Saskatchewan cities.

“Oh by far and large it’s fentanyl. Fentanyl and its derivatives like charafentanyl, but fentanyl is the main ingredient that we see,” said Weighill.

“From what I understand it gives a very good high and we have people on the methadone program and it doesn’t give as good of a high as fentanyl so people go back to it. And sometimes people don’t know fentanyl is in the drugs.”

As of July 31, there were 65 accidental overdoses and nine suicides by overdose confirmed.

Agioritis, who lost her 19-year-old son, Kelly, to an overdose in 2015, said until policies and procedures around overdose and the stigma associated with it change, the deaths will continue to climb steadily.

She added that safe consumption and changes to criminal drug enforcement are part of the solution.

“The numbers are all there, and the experts all agree— it’s just trying to get the greater community to understand. And the only way the greater community is going to understand is if our community leaders take a stand,” Agioritis said.

Weighill said Saskatchewan is on par with British Columbia in terms of percentage and rates of overdose deaths.

While some people object to institutions that assist drug use, or provide places for those struggling to take drugs, both Agioritis and Weighill emphasize that an accidental overdose can happen to anyone.

“There’s many different facets to this,” Weighill said. “I can’t stress this enough, it’s not a simple problem.”