Overdose deaths are falling. Will fentanyl crackdowns change that? – CBC

Canada finally seeing progress on reducing overdoses — as U.S. pushes for more drug enforcement

May 07, 2025

It’s hard to believe opioid deaths are dropping when you’re walking on Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, where B.C.’s drug crisis is most visible.

Open drug use is still common and on a dry day, you can count on seeing dozens of people unconscious on the sidewalk.

But the numbers don’t lie: overdose deaths in 2024 decreased 12 per cent in B.C. and across the country compared to the previous 12 months, according to January data from the province and March data from Health Canada.

The epidemic has killed 50,928 Canadians since 2016 — that’s all the seats in Rogers Stadium in Toronto, and then some. According to Health Canada, 21 people a day, on average, die from toxic drugs in this country.

But the declines mark a small but distinct shift in the country’s overdose epidemic, which was officially declared a health emergency in B.C. nine years ago last month.

Read more: https://www.cbc.ca/news/health/fentanyl-overdoses-canada-us-drug-enforcement-1.7504182