CANADA’S OPIOID CRISIS IS BRINGING TO LIGHT THE DEADLY EFFECTS OF DRUGS BY ZEEST KHAN-
Canada’s Opioid Crisis is Bringing to Light The Deadly Effects of Drugs
Written By Zeest Khan | for Walling's Blogger Posted | on January 20th, 2023
Image by Zeest Khan
An intense uprise in the abuse of prescription and non-prescription drugs is taking place all around the world, including Canada.
Canada is facing a nationwide drug crisis that is affecting communities largely with devastating effects. The opioid crisis is a public health issue that has and continues to affect the lives of thousands of Canadians and their families. Every 49 minutes someone dies from drug poisoning and the most affected age range is 15-24 years old. The increase in illegal drugs laced with a powerful drug called fentanyl is one of the biggest causes of accidental overdoses.
“From July 11 to July 17, 2020, toxic drugs killed at least 207 Canadians, according to data compiled by Maclean’s. That is more than 29 people a day, for seven straight days.”
- Michael Friscolanti
Markus Gould, a talented athlete waiting on a promising scholarship, died of a toxic fentanyl drug overdose at the young age of 17 in 2020 in Cobourg Ontario after being prescribed opioids for his ADHD, and Asperger's syndrome. His death is only one out of thousands whose lives were tragically affected by this crisis.
Front-line doctors and workers say they are left to guess at what mixture of substances a person in crisis may have been exposed to, Since the recent pandemic drug stats have been increasing at devastating speeds.
Doctors lack the resources and supplies to treat patients who come in affected by drugs, such as Benzodiazepines which are being found more frequently in illegal drugs. The primary resource to treat patients currently is Naloxone, however, this new drug does not respond to this medication and therefore the effects of the opioids often cannot be reversed. This is the case for many different types of drugs, slowing down the treatment process and increasing the risk of a drug-related death. Opioid deaths have increased by more than 100% between 2017 and the pandemic in March of 2020. Doctors in Hamilton, Ontario are contemplating declaring this a state of emergency.
Opioid-related deaths were at an all-time high between January 2016 and December 2018 with over 11, 500 deaths and many others facing life-threatening situations and harm, these numbers continue to increase even today. Canada’s streets have become full of powerful drugs such as Fentanyl, one of the deadliest drugs, having been the cause of 68% of drug-related overdoses in British Colombia in 2016 and 30% of drug-related deaths in 2022.
Canada needs to apply stricter drug regulations to stop the steep increase in drug-related harm and provide adequate health care for those who are struggling with drug abuse. Approximately 94% of opioid overdoses are accidental. We see this problem very commonly in young teenagers and adults, there should be targeted treatment for these ages to prevent the use of drugs in the first place.
Get Opioids off of the streets and save lives.
Works Cited
The Opioid Crisis in Canada (parl.ca)
Canada's opioid crisis (fact sheet) - Canada.ca
Evidence synthesis - The opioid crisis in Canada: a national perspective - PMC (nih.gov)
The opioid death crisis in Canada: crucial lessons for public health - The Lancet Public Health
Opioid- and Stimulant-related Harms — Canada.ca
Hamilton exploring state of emergency over opioid deaths | CTV News
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