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No drug-related deaths in the Yukon in June or July, but experts warn that the overdose crisis is far from over

Thursday, 17 August 2023 16:46

By Stuart Bonell

Blood Ties Four Directions Centre's building in Whitehorse (Photo: S. Bonell)

The decrease in deaths was not the result of a decrease in drug use, according to Blood Ties Four Directions Centre executive director.

Through the ongoing opioid crisis in the Yukon, the territory reported no substance-related deaths in June or July. Harm-reduction workers and drug experts say that despite the recent decrease in drug-related deaths in the Yukon, the territory should remain on alert.

Blood Ties Four Directions Centre executive director Bronte Renwick-Shields warns that the Yukon is still experiencing an overdose crisis, and that the decrease in deaths did not come from a decrease in drug use or overdose.

Blood Ties Four Directions Centre houses the only supervised consumption site in the Yukon. According to Renwick-Shields, overdoses that receive response at the site could have been fatal if they had been in the community instead.

Data from Yukon’s chief coroner Heather Jones says that twelve Yukoners have died from substance use since January. Of those deaths, eight occurred over the course of three weeks in April. Eleven involved cocaine, nine involved opioids, and eight involved fentanyl.

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