Opioid Deaths Spur Canadian Push to Decriminalize All Drugs

A surge in overdose deaths in Canada is driving pressure to broaden drug decriminalization, reports CBC Canada. The country’s largest mental health teaching hospital, the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) in Toronto, yesterday joined a growing national movement led by policymakers and health experts in releasing a policy statement calling for nationwide decriminalization of all drugs, while ramping up treatment and harm-reduction services. “We should be thinking about substance use through a health lens,” said Leslie Buckley, chief of the addictions division at CAMH.  “and focusing on how to help people be well, rather than face criminal penalties.”

The push comes as overdose deaths are hitting new highs in much of the country, in part fuelled by an increasingly toxic illegal drug supply and, advocates say, by the social isolation and stress sparked by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Federal data shows there were nearly 7,000 apparent opioid toxicity deaths reported in Canada between April 2020 and March 2021 — an 88 per cent increase from the same time period prior to the pandemic — with the bulk of the most recent deaths reported in British Columbia, Alberta and Ontario.