161 deaths confirmed to be drug toxicity-related, another 202 suspected: Sask. Coroners Service

Between Jan 1 of this year and last Wednesday, some 363 deaths throughout the province were believed to be or confirmed to be drug-related toxicity-related.

Statistics published by the Saskatchewan Coroners Service on Monday showed drug toxicity was confirmed in 161 cases.

An additional 202 were suspected to be related to drug toxicity, though some of those matters were still under investigation, bringing the province's running total to 363 with two months left in the year.

Through all of 2020 the Coroners Service reported 314 confirmed drug toxicity-related deaths in the province. An additional 16 deaths were suspected to be related to drug toxicity in 2020 for a total of 330 reported through that year.

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Of the deaths reported Monday, 81 were recorded in Regina while 42 were reported in Saskatoon.

Through all of 2020, Regina reported 139 deaths related to drug toxicity while Saskatoon reported 73 deaths.

Fentanyl and its variants appeared to be involved in many of the reported drug toxicity related deaths in Saskatchewan.

In Regina, city council will be asked to consider approving a one-time funding increase of $75,000 through 2022 to develop a comprehensive overdose prevention strategy.

That strategy would be created in partnership with the Saskatchewan Health Authority, the Regina Police Service and other community partners.

In Saskatoon, police in that city said they were researching the process of decriminalizing drugs, however police chief Troy Cooper had previously said he would like to see any steps in that direction taken after community partnerships were established with people in health services and other support organizations.