Last year the City of Regina saw its number of overdoses and related deaths skyrocket; however, in 2022, those numbers are down.

So far this year, the Regina Police Service has reported 126 overdoses with six apparent deaths.

In 2021, Regina saw over 1,800 overdoses and 160 overdose deaths.

Cheif Evan Bray said that though that number is on pace to decrease, one is still too many.

“Any overdose, especially if it results in death. That’s a tragedy in our community and something we need to take seriously.”

He said that there isn’t one specific reason for the numbers trending down.

“It’s really a collective effort by so many people in our community,” he said. “Emergency responders, frontline community organizations, and government organizations are working on trying to address this issue on a long-term basis with some tragedy. Some shorter harm reduction, some effective enforcement.”

“We’ve been able to do on large scale drug dealers, bringing these drugs into our community, all of those efforts can make a difference,” he continued.

Bray added that they have to remain vigilant as things can change quickly.

“We know how volatile the drug world is, and all you need is to get one shipment of bad drugs in our community, and it can cause a spike in the number of overdoses and, sadly, the number of the deaths,” said. “We need to continue to work together with our community partners and government and address this issue.”