While the country has been consumed with COVID-19, a deadly epidemic continued unabated. 

Drug overdose deaths linked to the opioid crisis hit record levels in 2020, in part due to the pandemic, and 2021 is shaping up to be another tragic year. 

Alanna Smith, who covers the opioid crisis for the Calgary Herald, joins the show to discuss the role the pandemic played in a spike in overdoses, what is being done now to limit the death toll, and what’s behind the push to explore safe supply programs and decriminalization. 

Background reading: How COVID-19 overshadowed the worst year on record for overdose deaths 

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