A quarter of deaths among adults in their 20s and 30s in Canada in 2021 were caused by opioids, according to a new study published Monday in the Journal of the Canadian Medical Association.
According to researchers at the University of Toronto, the number of deaths attributable to opioids has more than doubled in two years in Canada, going from 3,007 in 2019 to 6,222 in 2021.
The study authors noted major increases among 30-year-olds in the Prairies, while the number of overdose-related deaths quintupled in Manitoba, nearly tripled in Saskatchewan and more than doubled in Alberta.
In Quebec, 161 deaths were attributable to opioids in 2019, but this number increased to 369 in 2021.
The researchers noted that these increases coincided with health restrictions imposed during the pandemic.
They recalled that these measures have reduced access to certain prevention programs and that border restrictions are likely to have increased the toxicity of certain substances circulating on the market.
According to the lead author of the research, Tara Gomes, this sharp increase demonstrates that provinces must act more quickly to combat overdose deaths.
Researchers also analyzed accidental opioid-related deaths in British Columbia, Ontario, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, as well as the Northwest Territories.
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