Sault opioid death rate highest in Ontario so far in 2024

Sault Ste. Marie tops a recently released list of Ontario cities with the highest rates of opioid deaths in the first quarter of the year.

Statistics from the province's Office of the Chief Coroner don't bode well for any region in the north, but the situation is worst in the Sault.

Longtime outreach workers in city said they weren’t surprised that the city had the highest opioid death rate to begin the year.

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"Being No 1 is not a good claim to fame for Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario,” said David Cartner of the Ontario Aboriginal HIV/AIDS Strategy.

“It's going to get worse before it gets better.”

The Sault saw an opioid toxicity rate of 69.6 per 100,000 people, along with 13 deaths in the first quarter of the year.

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In year-over-year data as recent as this March, northern health units occupied each slot in the Top 5 for opioid deaths in the province.

"It's a northern problem, but it's a provincial problem as well,” said Stephanie Hopkin of Sault District Social Services.

“But hopefully it could be in our favour when it comes to getting extra resources and saying that this is a more pervasive issue in northern Ontario and specifically in Algoma.”

Statistics from the province's Office of the Chief Coroner on opioid deaths in the province don't bode well for any region in the north, but the situation is worst in the Sault. (Photo from video)

Paramedics are responding to more overdose emergencies and the drugs that are out there continue to get more addictive and lethal.

"You don't go out and choose to do this,” Cartner said.

“This is something that that these drug dealers are putting into the drugs that are getting these kids addicted. And you only have to do it once. That's it. And you don't even know you're doing it.”

"People are being exposed to substances that they're not expecting to come across,” said Katie Kirkham, Sault Ste. Marie chief of paramedics.

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“And so with the toxicity, we're finding that you aren't able to resuscitate somebody with the naloxone as readily as you may have been able to in the past.”

Paramedics in the Sault will begin carrying Suboxone next year, hoping that will help reduce opioid related deaths.

The topic of a supervised consumption site in the city is already being discussed by the Social Services, and those working on the front line said it would greatly reduce overdose deaths.