Addressing the overdose crisis in North America with bold action

Addressing the overdose crisis in North America with bold action

North America is facing a devastating public health crisis of unintentional drug poisoning overdose deaths driven by an unpredictable unregulated drug supply, which has significantly worsened since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the volatility of the unregulated drug supply predates th...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Addiction (Abingdon, England) Vol. 117; no. 5; pp. 1194 - 1196
Main Authors: Kolla, Gillian, Touesnard, Natasha, Gomes, Tara
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: England Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01-05-2022
Subjects:
Decriminalization
Drug addiction
Drug legalization
Drug overdose
Drug Overdose - prevention & control
Drug policy
Epidemics
Fentanyl
harm reduction
Humans
Narcotics
North America
Overdose
Public health
safer supply
North America
Canada
United States > US
overdose
drug policy
safer supply
Decriminalization
fentanyl
harm reduction
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Summary:North America is facing a devastating public health crisis of unintentional drug poisoning overdose deaths driven by an unpredictable unregulated drug supply, which has significantly worsened since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the volatility of the unregulated drug supply predates the pandemic, with fentanyl supplanting heroin over the last 5–7 years in much of Canada and the United States. It is this shift that has driven the acceleration in opioid-related death rates, with unregulated fentanyl responsible for 87% of opioid-overdose deaths in Canada in 2021 [1].
ISSN:0965-2140
1360-0443
DOI:10.1111/add.15844