Inside the history of Canada’s opioid crisis – Macleans.ca

Canada is in the midst of an epidemic of opioid use and abuse. How did we get here?

April 25, 2017

TORONTO – Canada is in the midst of an epidemic of opioid use and abuse – involving both prescription and illicit forms of the potent narcotics – that shows no signs of abating and has led to an explosion of fatal overdoses.

So pervasive is the problem that it has become part of the Canadian consciousness and left doctors, public health officials and politicians scrambling to find solutions to contain the crisis.

Canadians remain the second highest per-capita consumers of opioids in the world, after Americans. But while U.S. use is beginning to decline, Canada’s numbers keep rising, according to the International Narcotic Control Board, which monitors countries’ prescribing levels.

Read More: http://www.macleans.ca/society/inside-the-history-of-canadas-opioid-crisis/