Is it time for a national strategy on the opioid crisis?

Carnage. Perhaps that's the best word to describe the human devastation caused by the opioid crisis.

Almost 2,500 Canadians died of opioid overdoses last year — nearly seven people every day— according to new data released by public health officials this week in a first attempt to try to compile a national picture of the crisis. British Columbia has been hardest hit. Fatal overdoses there have overtaken motor vehicle crashes as the leading cause of death, prompting the province to declare a public health emergency last year.

But, from coast to coast, the death toll caused by opioids is on the rise.

The mayors of Canada's biggest cities have declared it's time to act, calling for a national action plan to treat the country's opioid crisis.

Problem is, there isn't just one opioid crisis. There are overlapping crises.

In the West, what's behind the spike in overdoses is fentanyl, a fast-acting, non-pharmacuetical synthetic painkiller... 50 to 100 times more potent than morphine. Street drugs are being laced with fentanyl, leaving what the mayor of Vancouver calls a "bloodbath" with no end in sight.

In the East, especially Ontario, the trouble lies with prescription drugs making their way to the street. Doctors are prescribing opioids widely and liberally. Canada is now ranked the world's second biggest consumer of prescription opioids. And when prescriptions run out, some of those consumers turn to the streets.

Are doctors to blame for opioid addiction and over-dosage? Are provinces doing enough to prevent over-prescribing and doctor-shopping? Or is the crisis making it harder for patients to obtain painkillers?

The Prime Minister says the federal government won't rest until it turns the tide of opioid epidemic, touting $110 million dollars set aside for a national drug strategy.

Health Canada has ramped up approvals of supervised-injection sites. Vancouver, Surrey, Toronto, and Montreal will now have clinics. Should there be more. so drug users can inject legally under the watchful eye of nurses? What about addiction treatment centres? Are there enough where you live? 

Our question today: Is it time for a national strategy on Canada's opioid crisis? Is the crisis affecting you?

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