Opioid crisis is devastating communities and families: Trudeau
VANCOUVER — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the opioid crisis is devastating communities and families across Canada.
After going on a ride-along on Friday with Vancouver police in the city’s Downtown Eastside, Trudeau said the number of drug overdose deaths is particularly high in British Columbia but the problem isn’t unique to the province.
“The impact has been devastating. Families ripped apart. Communities forever altered. Loved ones lost too soon,” he told a news conference after meeting with first-responders and health-care workers.
“This is a crisis that seems, for most Canadians, to be very far away. Something that’s limited to certain tougher parts of town, to the West Coast, but we are seeing a spread of opioids across the country and we’re seeing it spread far and wide across socio-economic levels, across communities.