One of Canada's leading experts on the opioid crisis will be speaking with members of the community about how Canada is addressing this deadly situation.
The Aurora/Newmarket chapter of the Canadian Federation of University Women (CFUW) is hosting a free virtual event with the director the Canadian Drug Policy coalition, Donald MacPherson.
“While the COVID-19 pandemic has been raging across Canada, there has been another lethal crisis quietly raging in parallel,” CFUW said in a news release. “It’s worked its way into our cities, towns, suburbs, and homes. That crisis is the opioid toxicity crisis. Nobody is immune. Right now, there could be people in your life who are struggling with opioids.”
They said that is why they wanted to host this event, Saving Lives: Responding to the Opioid Crisis in Canada, on Jan. 25 at 7 p.m.
“This is a public health crisis; we cannot wait any longer to make it a priority,” said Kathy Wosnick, president of CFUW Aurora/Newmarket. “We knew from the start that we wanted to open this important presentation to the community.”
CFUW said that according to Statistics Canada, 24,626 lives were lost to this crisis between January 2016 and June 2021, with B.C. as the hardest hit province followed by Alberta and Ontario.
Opioid deaths rose during the COVID-19 pandemic, prompting CFUW to act and focus on this issue on a national level.
“It’s not a mental health or addictions problem per se, and to continue to frame it as an addictions issue is to miss the mark and neglect to put in place interventions that address the actual driver of the crisis, which is the toxic drug market,” said MacPherson.
He will join the group virtually from Vancouver to discuss the response to the opioid crisis and what is being done “to stop this tragic loss of life."
This presentation is part of CFUW’s 2021-2022 speaker series that has featured CHATS CEO Christina Bisanz, musician Dr. Patricia Wheeler, and more.
To register for the free event you must email [email protected] by Jan. 24.
