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B.C. has requested a cumulative threshold of 4.5 grams for opioids, cocaine and methamphetamine, but the federal government is mulling a 2.5-gram cumulative threshold, decriminalization advocates say.

A powerful drug used to sedate horses and cattle is creeping into Canada's illicit drug supply and has been detected in a growing number of human drug poisoning deaths in Ontario.

Some Canadian cities and provinces are trying to decriminalize possession of small amounts of drugs in their jurisdictions as thousands of people die of overdoses each year.

A report into an investigation of 6,007 overdose deaths in British Columbia calls on the province to urgently develop a policy to distribute a safer supply of drugs and offer better health supports with a plan that would see action taken over 30, 60 and 90 days.

Illicit toxic drugs in British Columbia cause more deaths than all other natural causes combined, the province’s chief coroner said Wednesday as she called for an end to old prevention measures that have been "an abject and very costly failure."

British Columbia is applying to the federal government to remove criminal penalties for possession of small amounts of illicit drugs in an effort to help more people get care in a health crisis that has claimed 7,700 lives over five years.

British Columbia needs a significant shift in how it treats people who use drugs, the province's chief coroner said on Tuesday, August 31, 2021, after releasing statistics showing 1,011 people died from suspected illicit overdoses from January to June.

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.

Four pilot projects in Vancouver and Victoria have received $15 million in federal funding to provide safer drugs for people at risk of dying from overdose as British Columbia faces a record number of annual fatalities.

With overdose deaths rising across Canada, advocates for drug users are calling for the implementation of a national safe supply program as part of an effort to save lives.

Canada’s top doctor says public health measures put in place to stop the spread of COVID-19 may have made it harder for people who use drugs to access needed support.

"I have to say that the road to drug addiction, and dying on the street, is one that I’ve seen myself close to," said leadership contestant Amita Kuttner.

British Columbia's premier is urging Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to take an "enormous step" to reduce stigma associated with illicit drug use by decriminalizing possession for personal use.

The police chiefs said in a report that the "compelling case" for change had been made by public health officials addressing the opioid crisis, which killed over 15,000 Canadians between January 2016 and December 2019, and continues to kill.

Emergency doctors have been warned to try to avoid using the limited supply of medications needed for patients on ventilators, as they could be critical in the fight against COVID-19.