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Your Call: How is Vancouver dealing with its opioid crisis & what can we learn from it?

  

Vancouver and San Francisco are iconic West Coast cities with many things in common -- including large numbers of people addicted to hard drugs. In recent years, Vancouver has been at the forefront of new approaches to addiction, including safe injection sites. 

As San Francisco considers similar programs for its 22,000 intravenous drug users, what can we learn from Vancouver? 

Guests:

Sarah Blyth, founder of the Overdose Prevention Society

Dr. Keith Ahamed, addiction medicine specialist at St. Paul's Hospital 

Dean Wilson, member of the Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users 

Web Resources:

Overdose Prevention Society

Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users

PRI The World: Vancouver combats heroin by giving its addicts the best smack in the world

Vox: The opioid painkiller and heroin epidemic, explained

Newsweek: What Is Fentanyl, The Drug Linked To Thousands of Deaths in North America?