In Canada, the opioid crisis has killed thousands of people and continues to claim more lives each and every day. In August, British Columbia marked its third straight month with over 170 deaths by overdose - and its fifth-straight month with over 100 lives lost. In Canada’s westernmost province, the crisis has been, by far, deadlier than covid-19.

While there is no panacea for the crisis, there are policies that can reduce harm and save lives. Those policies require political will and cooperation across federal, provincial, and municipal jurisdictions. To date, these political efforts have been slow and insufficient. More must be done, and done quickly. To better understand what that “more” is we must ask: How can we solve the opioid crisis?

On this episode of Open to Debate, David Moscrop talks with Travis Lupick, a Vancouver-based, award-winning journalist and author of Fighting for Space: How a Group of Drug Users Transformed One City’s Struggle with Addiction (2018).