The most recent statistics tracking opioid-related deaths in the province show a dramatic drop in deaths for Sault Ste. Marie from January to March.
Data from the Office of the Chief Coroner for the first quarter of 2025 shows two confirmed or probable deaths by toxic drug poisoning recorded in Sault Ste. Marie.
The Algoma Public Health Unit has dropped to eighth in the province in terms of the opioid-related death rate.
In the fourth quarter of 2024, the Algoma Public Health Unit had the third-highest opioid toxicity mortality rate in the province, with eight deaths per 100,000 people. In the first quarter of 2025, that rate was cut in half to four deaths per 100,000.
Health units with higher death rates than Algoma include Thunder Bay, Porcupine, Sudbury and District, Northwestern, Brant County, Lambton and Peterborough.
The data from the OCC is preliminary and subject to change.
Connie Raynor-Elliott, founder of Save Our Young Adults from Drug Abuse, said she has noticed a reduction in the number of deaths reported to her at street level.
Raynor-Elliott said she is not convinced there were only two deaths in the first quarter in Sault Ste. Marie, but said some harm reduction initiatives have been catching on.
"We do push drug testing, which is vital," said Raynor-Elliott.
She has also noticed more people picking up naloxone kits from SOYA's Gore Street depot. Naloxone is available in a nasal spray or syringe and is used to reverse a toxic drug poisoning.
Deaths across the province in the first quarter were down 25 per cent versus the same quarter in 2024, 319 versus 428. More than 75 per cent of those deaths are attributed to fentanyl and fentanyl analogues.