A recent study recommends making specific plans to reduce harm after finding that one out of every four deaths in the 20s and 30s age group was caused by opioids in 2021.
Researchers at the University of Toronto found that the number of people who died from opioids in Canada each year increased to 6,200 between 2019 and 2021.
They found that the number of 30-year-olds in Manitoba is five times higher now, in Saskatchewan it has almost tripled, and in Alberta, it has increased by more than two and a half times.
Scientists noticed that the increase happened at the same time as the pandemic rules made it harder to get help for using drugs safely and increased the possibility of dangerous drugs coming across the border.
Tara Gomes, the main writer, says that the big increase shows that provinces need to work quicker to stop overdose deaths.
Scientists studied how many people died from accidentally taking opioids in different parts of Canada. They looked at British Columbia, Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, along with the Northwest Territories.
The research was released today in a medical journal from Canada.
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Drug abuse linked to 25% of Youth deaths – Study finds
