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.
A mother whose son died of a fentanyl overdose wants the Regina Police Service to equip all front-line officers with the life-saving antidote naloxone.
The ranking U.S. diplomat on drug enforcement policy is to visit Ottawa in July to kick-start a fresh round of co-operation between the two countries on tackling the opioid crisis.