Canadians’ opioid use over the last decade peaked last year, according to the findings of a study commissioned by the federal government.

Just under three-in-ten (29 per cent) participants in a survey conducted by Earnscliffe Strategy Group in the middle of 2019 reported they had taken opioids sometime in the past year, which was significantly higher than was reported in both a baseline survey referred to in Earnscliffe’s report and Statistics Canada’s most recently available drug use data from the same year.

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Earnscliffe’s baseline data suggested 22 per cent of Canadians reported using opioids in 2017. There were 12 per cent of Canadians aged 15 or older who reported to Statistics Canada that they had used opioids in the last year in 2017.

The increase in the prevalence of Canadians who have taken opioids last year represents a sudden jump in the users in this country, which had seen the percentage of those who took opioids gradually shrink over the decade.

Almost 21 per cent of Canadians reported using opioids within the last year in 2010. The year after only 17 per cent of Canadians said they had used opioids. The percentage of users either remained close to the year before or dropped in each concurrent poll that was taken by Statistics Canada.

Earnscliffe also polled its 2,833 respondents on their knowledge about opioids and the opioid crisis in Canada.

More respondents (69 per cent) reported knowing what an opioid is compared to the study’s baseline comparison in 2017 (63 per cent). A similar number (81 per cent) of respondents said they think opioids were either all dangerous or mostly dangerous as in 2017 (80 per cent).

Seven-in-10 respondents said they felt the opioid crisis was serious in their community. The percentage of respondents who were concerned about teens using opioids without without a prescription (76 per cent) was similar to 2017 (75 per cent), while the percentage who were concerned about teens using prescribed opioids rose from 2017 from 76 per cent to 81 per cent.

Opioids are intense painkillers typically described as downers that can induce a euphoric feeling in users. Types of opioids include prescription drugs like codeine, morphine, oxycodone and fentanyl as well as street drugs like illicit fentanyl and heroin. Opioids are known for being highly addictive and prone to cause overdose in individuals who misuse the drug. There have been more than 13,900 opioid-related deaths since 2016, according to Health Canada. There were 11 Canadians dying per day, on average, from opioid overdoses in 2017.

In her new role at Canada’s health minister, Patty Hajdu has been asked by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to prioritize working with the provinces and territories on making new investments into services to combat the opioid crisis. Hajdu has also been told to work with the same partners to build more in-patient rehabilitation beds and increase the hours that safe consumption sites are open.

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