A Short History: The Opioid Crisis in Canada

Illegal and prescription opioid use has been a growing problem in Canada for the past 25+ years. The lives lost to opioid abuse have quadrupled in this time frame. Fentanyl and derivatives of this drug have been the number one cause for this crises. 

An article published in the Canadian Press has provided the number of deaths in the years 1999, 144 people, and 2015, 734 people. Unfortunately these numbers are still rising rapidly today. The same article touches on Fentanyl and the big role it plays in the opioid crisis in North America;

“Fentanyl’s contribution to opioid-related deaths soared by 548 per cent between 2006 and 2015, and it is now the most common cause of lethal overdoses among this class of powerful painkillers.”

- Sheryl Ubelacker (2017)