opioids

Uruguay, Portugal, Mexico, Argentina, Colombia, Ecuador and the state of Oregon all have introduced some form of decriminalization in an effort to curb overdose deaths.

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.

The federal prison service says it is making several changes to help prisoners addicted to opioids, including getting them faster access to treatment by eliminating a waiting list that is hundreds of people long.

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With opioid deaths surging, the province’s decision to shut down the McCullough Centre in Gunn is just the latest example of the governing United Conservative Party’s callous disregard for the lives of people coping with addiction in Alberta, writes Susan Slade, a vice-president of the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees.

Councillors in Vancouver have voted unanimously to ask the federal government to decriminalize possession of small amounts of illicit drugs.

B.C. has a high rate of death per 100,000 population related to illicit drugs including opioids, compared to other parts of the country from January 2016 to March 2020.

The Alberta government is joining a class-action lawsuit to recoup health-care costs related to the opioid crisis, the province's health minister said on Tuesday, Ocrtober 15, 2019.

A British Columbia coroner's inquest jury recommends improvements in provincial substance abuse treatment, detection and prevention services for young people following an inquest into the overdose of a Victoria-area teen.

Two family doctors and an orthopedic surgeon told a British Columbia coroner's inquest on Thursday, June 20, 2019, about the dilemmas they faced treating a 16-year-old patient who denied he was abusing drugs but showed signs of a growing opioid addiction.

The federal health minister is forming a national task force to provide input on how to better prevent, treat and manage chronic pain, which affects one in five Canadians and is often addressed with opioids.

Memories of vomiting, diarrhea and unrelenting stomach pain as he withdrew from opioids in prison had Rob MacDonald repeatedly asking for addiction treatment before he left a maximum-security facility but despite dozens of formal complaints, he says he didn't get any help.