Grande Prairie, Fort McMurray lead province in per-capita fentanyl deaths

The northern cities of Grande Prairie and Fort McMurrayhave the highestfentanyl overdose death rates in the province, figures from Alberta Health reveal.

Alberta Health released new statistics last week that show Grande Prairie and FortMcMurrayhad the highest rates offentanyloverdosedeaths per 100,000 persons within the first six months of 2017.

In the first half of the year, nine people died offentanyloverdoses in Grande Prairie, compared to 10 deaths in all of 2016.

In FortMcMurray, eight people died offentanyloverdosesin the first half of2017, comparedto nine the previous year.

Mari-Lee Paluszak isn't afraid to be counted as one of the mothers who lost a child to fentanyl in Fort McMurray.

Her sonTodd Chambers, thefather of a one-year-old girl, overdosed on the drug in October 2016.

Paluszak doesn't hide her contempt fortraffickers who push the deadly street drug.

"When they are selling fentanyl, they are murderers," Paluszak said. "It's murder."

Fentanyl is the leading cause of opioid overdose deaths in Alberta. The drug killed 198 people in Alberta in the first six months of 2017, including 65 in Edmonton and 98 in Calgary. In 2016, 314people in Alberta died from fentanyl.

For the first half of 2017, the rateof fentanyl-related deathsin Edmonton was 13.3 per 100,000, compared to 14.9 in Calgary and 19.9 in Fort McMurray.

Grande Prairie's fentanyl overdose death rate 23.4 per 100,000 was the highest of any Alberta city.

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Both Grande Prairie and FortMcMurray have seen several large fentanylbusts recently. In June, the Grande Prairie RCMPissued a special warning after police and EMSresponded to seven overdose calls in a single night.

'Crisis level'

The HIV North Society has been on the front lines of fighting fentanyl overdoses in Grande Prairie and Fort McMurray, callingthe situation a crisis.

It has been handing out naloxone kits and working with the RCMP and other partner agencies to reduce deaths, executive director Melissa Byers said.

The groupbelieves overdose death ratesare highest in northern Alberta cities because Grande Prairie and Fort McMurray are boom towns that are home to a lot of people with disposable income. They are also regional hubs forcommunitiesin theirregions.

It's gotten to the point, Byers said, where it's not hard to find someone who has been affected by a fentanyl overdose.

"It's entering into different circles," Byers said. "And people are noticing and responding to overdoses on the street. It's definitely at a crisis level."

Not dying in vain

Days before Chambers's death, Paluszaksensed that her son, a regular heroin and cocaine abuser, would fall victim to the deadlydrug.

"We pretty much suspected if something happened to him it would probably be a fentanyl overdose," Paluszak said. "A week before he died I said he is going to die."

He was found dead in a trailerat hiswork site.

A medical report nine months later confirmed fentanyl andan animal tranquilizerwere found in his blood.

In his diary, Chambers had written about his struggles to stay off drugs.

"I am here for a greater purpose," he wrote. "I need to stay vigilant with my sobriety so one day I can be able to help save others."

His mother is now calling for the government to open safe drug-use sites where addicts can administerdrugs under medical supervision, with easy access to naloxone.

It's something HIV North is also callingfor.

"I think we need to start talking about drug use in a way the destigmatizesit so people are able to access that support," Byers said.

Paluszak also wants more mothers to go public about their grief and hopes toform a support group for them.

She said she doesn't want her son's death to be in vain and wants his struggles to be a stepping stone for others.

"I know if we had a support group here, that it would help so many others," she said. "Because there are people out there who are struggling. We just don't know who they are."