Addictions Minister Grilled About Opioid Decriminalization by Health Committee

Ya’ara Saks, Canada’s minister of mental health and addictions, answered questions about Canada’s opioid epidemic on Feb. 1, saying “harm reduction” is the second step at a Commons Standing Committee on Health meeting. The federal cabinet gave a green light one year ago to B.C.’s proposal for a three-year pilot project decriminalizing the possession of small amounts of drugs. During the first five months of decriminalization, addiction-related fatalities rose 7 percent in B.C., said the BC Coroners Service. By the end of the year, 2,511 deaths from illicit, toxic drugs had been recorded. The average of almost seven fatalities a day is the highest yearly death rate ever recorded by the agency and up 5 percent from the previous year....