2020 a brutal year for fatal drug overdoses in Saskatchewan

It's cold comfort that the numbers are not yet official.

The preliminary findings from the Saskatchewan Coroners Service show that 379 people died of drug overdoses in the province last year. That total is 172 confirmed ODs and another 207 suspected.

There were 177 confirmed fatal overdoses in 2019.

"That's very concerning," Dr. Peter Butt, a consultant in addiction medicine with the Saskatchewan Health Authority, said of the 2020 numbers.

The powerful opioid fentanyl was behind 80 of the confirmed deaths. 

• Internal report shows surge in Saskatoon overdoses since arrival of COVID-19

Butt said there is no single cause of the spike in fatal deaths. Factors include availability of the drug, demand and the pandemic.

"You can't separate this out from what people are experiencing with the pandemic: the stress, the isolation, the challenges," he said in an interview.

Regina was the city hardest hit, with 82 confirmed deaths, followed by Saskatoon with 33. There were seven deaths in Yorkton, six in Prince Albert and three in Moose Jaw.

Butt said Regina's location may have been a factor.

"I suspect that it has to do with the distribution system," he said.

"It's on the TransCanada Highway. What we saw historically is Vancouver and B.C. being hit hard by fentanyl earlier on and then Alberta, Ontario. But now we're seeing stops along the way."

Butt also noted that Indigenous people, especially Indigenous women, are disproportionately represented in the confirmed deaths.

The numbers show 28 Indigenous women died, compared with 12 white women. Meanwhile 44 Indigenous men died, compared with 37 white men.