New Publication: Three noteworthy idiosyncrasies related to Canada’s opioid-death crisis, and implications for public health-oriented interventions

A new publication by Benedikt Fischer, Tessa Robinson and Didier Jutras-Aswad uncovers three indiosyncrasies related to Canada’s opioid-death crisis and their implications for public health-oriented interventions. These particularities include:

1. Different opioids in different regions: In Western Canada, the majority of opioid deaths are caused by illicit fentanyl drugs, whereas Eastern Canadian deaths are largely due to prescription-type opioids;
2. Overdose locations: Most overdoses happen at home or in shelters, making it difficult for emergency services to intervene and help quickly;
3. Shifting drug use methods: people are increasingly inhaling highly potent drugs, leading to an increase in overdoses.

This study outlines these three key factors and their associated implications for developing effective intervention programs to improve our response to the drug death crisis. To read the study: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/dar.13796   Article by Jane Ramil