Strategies for Addressing Canada’s Opioid Crisis: A Cross-National Comparative Analysis of Drug Policies
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2022
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In 2020, the opioid epidemic claimed the lives of at least 7,560 Canadians, making it the deadliest addiction crisis in Canadian history (1). Contributing to the worsening of the opioid crisis is the criminalization of drug use, which has stigmatized individuals who use drugs, exacerbated health harms, widened socioeconomic and racial disparities and created a toxic illegal drug market, now responsible for most overdose deaths (2). Reforming the criminal justice-led approach and decriminalizing small amounts of drugs for personal possession have been proposed as potential solutions to the opioid crisis, having been successfully implemented to combat drug-related harms in other countries. This study seeks to examine alternatives to the drug criminalization approach through employing a cross-national comparative analysis of drug policies in Canada, Portugal, West Virginia, and Switzerland and assess which policy framework has been successful at reducing drug-related harms. The investigation reveals that punitive drug policies exacerbate drug-related harms, including overdose deaths, drug-related incarceration, problematic drug use and HIV infections. Alternatively, the low rates of opioid overdose deaths and related harms in European countries, like Portugal and Switzerland, can be attributed to innovative harm reduction policies and programs that improve access to treatment facilities and safe drug supplies.
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Hasan, S. (2022) Strategies for Addressing Canada's Opioid Crisis: A Cross-National Comparative Analysis of Drug Policies (Unpublished master's project). University of Calgary, Calgary, AB.