The death toll from the opioid crisis has skyrocketed since the last federal election, but experts and advocates say it should be a bigger election priority.
More than 12,800 apparent opioid-related deaths occurred since January 2016, when the federal government first started tracking the data, and March 2019, according to the
latest available statistics from Health Canada.
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Health officials, harm reduction advocates, policy experts, and drug users have called on the next federal government to take stronger measures to tackle the crisis, such as
decriminalizing illegal drugs, declaring a
national public health emergency, ensuring a
safe opioid supply for users, and
expanding supervised injection sites.
Experts say the stigma of drug use and a need to appear tough on crime in the eyes of voters makes the opioid crisis a hard topic for political leaders to address on the campaign trail.
"It's still a difficult issue for politicians to talk fluently about," says Donald MacPherson, executive director of the Canadian Drug Policy Coalition, a policy advocacy group made up of about 50 organizations.
