opioid crisis

This photo provided by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for Utah and introduced as evidence in a 2019 trial shows fentanyl-laced fake oxycodone pills collected during an investigation. Canada’s public health agency says the COVID-19 pandemic drove an increasingly deadly overdose crisis last year that continues to take lives and corrode communities. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-U.S. Attorneys Office for Utah via AP

Seventeen Canadians per day died from opioids in 2020: Public Health Agency of Canada

At least 21,174 people have died from apparent opioid toxicity between 2016 and 2020

 

Prescription pills containing oxycodone and acetaminophen are pictured in this June 20, 2012 photo. Pandemic exacerbates opioid crisis, as overdoses rise and services fade. The COVID-19 crisis has overshadowed an equally dark pandemic of opioid overdoses, which have risen sharply since March as the border closure and limited access to services raise fatal risks for drug users. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graeme Roy

Pandemic aggravates opioid crisis as overdoses rise and services fall out of reach

British Columbia saw more than 100 ‘illicit toxicity deaths’ each month between March and August

 

A truck drives past a sign supporting a ballot measure that would legalize controlled, therapeutic use of psilocybin mushrooms, Friday, Oct. 9, 2020 in Salem, Ore. War veterans with PTSD, terminally ill patients and others suffering from anxiety are backing the ballot measure. (AP Photo/Andrew Selsky)

Oregon could become 1st US state to decriminalize hard drugs

Users would have the option of paying $100 fines or attending new, free addiction recovery centres

 

FILE - This Tuesday, May 8, 2007, file photo shows the Purdue Pharma logo at its offices in Stamford, Conn. Arizona’s attorney general is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to force the Sackler family, which owns OxyContin-maker Purdue Pharma, to return billions of dollars they took out of the company. The court filing on Wednesday, July 31, 2019, marks the first time the high court has been asked to weigh in directly on the nation’s opioid crisis. (AP Photo/Douglas Healey, File)

Purdue Pharma pleas could bolster efforts for Canadian opioid class action

In Canada, provincial officials have pushed for victims here to be similarly compensated by Purdue

FILE - This Tuesday, May 8, 2007, file photo shows the Purdue Pharma logo at its offices in Stamford, Conn. Arizona’s attorney general is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to force the Sackler family, which owns OxyContin-maker Purdue Pharma, to return billions of dollars they took out of the company. The court filing on Wednesday, July 31, 2019, marks the first time the high court has been asked to weigh in directly on the nation’s opioid crisis. (AP Photo/Douglas Healey, File)
This Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2020 photo shows Purdue Pharma headquarters in Stamford, Conn. The Justice Department says on Wednesday, Purdue Pharma, the company that makes OxyContin, will plead guilty to three federal criminal charges as part of a settlement of more than $8 billion. OxyContin is the powerful prescription painkiller that experts say helped touch off an opioid epidemic. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)

OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma to plead to 3 criminal charges in U.S.

Settlement is highest-profile display yet of the feds seeking to hold a major drugmaker responsible for the opioid crisis

This Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2020 photo shows Purdue Pharma headquarters in Stamford, Conn. The Justice Department says on Wednesday, Purdue Pharma, the company that makes OxyContin, will plead guilty to three federal criminal charges as part of a settlement of more than $8 billion. OxyContin is the powerful prescription painkiller that experts say helped touch off an opioid epidemic. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)
A man injects drugs in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, Wednesday, Feb. 6, 2019. Canada needs a new approach to tackle its overdose crisis, says the lead author of a new study that highlights a prevalence of overdoses involving non-prescribed fentanyl and stimulants in British Columbia. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward

New study calls for new approach to tackling overdose crisis

There have been more than 15,000 apparent opioid-related deaths in Canada since 2016

A man injects drugs in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, Wednesday, Feb. 6, 2019. Canada needs a new approach to tackle its overdose crisis, says the lead author of a new study that highlights a prevalence of overdoses involving non-prescribed fentanyl and stimulants in British Columbia. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward
Chief Public Health Officer of Canada Dr. Theresa Tam speaks during a news conference on the COVID-19 pandemic on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, on Friday, Aug. 21, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang

Talks needed on decriminalizing hard drugs to address opioid crisis, Tam says

Recent data shows a major spike in the number of people dying from toxic illicit drugs due to the pandemic

Chief Public Health Officer of Canada Dr. Theresa Tam speaks during a news conference on the COVID-19 pandemic on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, on Friday, Aug. 21, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang
Overdose deaths increase by 93 per cent among B.C.’s First Nations

Overdose deaths increase by 93 per cent among B.C.’s First Nations

Overdose deaths increase by 93 per cent among B.C.’s First Nations

Overdose deaths increase by 93 per cent among B.C.’s First Nations
Canada’s Governor General Julie Payette met at a fire hall in downtown Vancouver on Feb. 22, 2020, with firefighters and police officers as well as officials including Mayor Kennedy Stewart. (The Canadian Press photo)

Governor general says multiple solutions needed for ‘complicated’ overdose issue

Julie Payette met at a fire hall with firefighters and police officers as well as politicians and health experts

Canada’s Governor General Julie Payette met at a fire hall in downtown Vancouver on Feb. 22, 2020, with firefighters and police officers as well as officials including Mayor Kennedy Stewart. (The Canadian Press photo)
AHS has opened access to the opioid blocker Naloxone kits in an effort to deal with the opioid crisis in Alberta. Individuals can, in addition to pharmacies, go into a local hospital and request the kit with no questions asked and no cost. Photo by Jeffrey Heyden-Kaye

Alberta Health Services tackles opioid deaths through Naloxone kits

Hospitals now able to hand out the opioid blockers to anyone who asks

AHS has opened access to the opioid blocker Naloxone kits in an effort to deal with the opioid crisis in Alberta. Individuals can, in addition to pharmacies, go into a local hospital and request the kit with no questions asked and no cost. Photo by Jeffrey Heyden-Kaye