Canada’s drug poisoning crisis: A call for humanity

Aug 26, 2025

August 31 is International Overdose Awareness Day

Drug poisoning continues to cause irreparable harm to our communities. In Canada, opioid poisonings take (on average) 20 lives a day. Yet, public support for substance use health services is waning, as is compassion for people who use drugs.

Neither Canadian drug policies nor public sentiment is keeping pace with the tragic loss of life. Last year was especially hard for people most affected by drug policy in Canada. The decriminalization pilot in British Columbia was abruptly rolled back; supervised consumption services were shut down in some provinces and their closure is imminent in others; and some federally funded harm reduction programs are ending. And despite insufficient evidence to support the effectiveness of involuntary treatment for substance use, not to mention the fatal risks that come with it, there’s increasing momentum for legislation to support this practice of forcing people into treatment.

We’re backsliding so quickly from understanding that addiction is a medical condition that’s as worthy of treatment and care as any other. Addiction is not a personal failing. We’re ignoring the reality that, with a dangerously tainted illegal drug supply, even someone using drugs for the first time could die from poisoning or experience a brain injury or other life-changing consequence. We’re discarding some of the best, evidence-based tools that keep people alive while blaming drug use for community problems. Public disorder, homelessness, and untreated mental illness are, in fact, the result of insufficient healthcare and social systems.

On August 31 we mark International Overdose Awareness Day. This year’s theme—One big family, driven by hope—is a powerful reminder not to divide people into “us” and “them” based one who uses drugs and who doesn’t. We’re bound by our common humanity; we have a responsibility to care for one another. Addressing the drug poisoning crisis requires us to start from a place of understanding and compassion. At CMHA, our understanding of what can help end the crisis lays out a straightforward roadmap:

1. Stop stigmatizing and shaming people who use drugs,
2. Stop criminalizing people with addictions; and
3. Fund all kinds of support… properly.

Effective supports range from helping to prevent addiction and keeping people safe and alive when they do use substances, to treating and supporting people through long-term recovery. This includes ensuring people have access to the housing, mental health care, and income supports they need. 

It’s on us to demand that our leaders put the humanity of all people at the heart of decision-making whether they use substances or not. Especially when the line between one person’s casual use of substances and another’s addiction or fatal overdose is often drawn based on luck, privilege, and circumstance. And luck can dissolve so very quickly. Let’s honour everyone’s basic humanity and their potential for recovery. Isn’t that something we can all get behind?