Digging deeper: Canada's Toxic Drug Crisis
Traci Letts’ son Mike was cautious, shy and ‘just wanted to snuggle’ growing up. Like so many other kids, Mike played hockey, he loved to cook and was an avid reader. He also struggled with self-esteem and confidence, which his mom says may have played a part in leading him to what ultimately became an addiction. “It actually made him in his world feel a little bit more normal, like he was able to fit into his peer group, fit into the high school,” Traci told The Vassy Kapelos Show.
Mike suffered from his addiction for years, and his family navigated it all beside him. Learning of the severity of Mike’s addiction from his ex-girlfriend, Traci says it threw the whole family into chaos. “We didn't know what to do; there was no there's no handbook.”
Traci’s experience within and outside of the system is one that tens of thousands of Canadian families are enduring. The support systems in place are hard to figure out, and don’t come anywhere close in scope to what’s necessary to combat the scale of the crisis in this country. “The resources and the systems that we really thought were in place to support families…were non-existent,” Traci said. “That really made it more difficult to find a pathway for all of us to move forward.”
The most recently available data from the federal government shows that on average 22 people a day are dying in this country from opioid toxicity. Another 17 are being hospitalized and 80 a day are visiting an emergency room because of opioid-related poisoning. Drug overdoses are now the leading cause of death for youths 10 to 18 years old in British Columbia and a study this week published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal found over a quarter of deaths among Canadians aged 20-39 between 2019 and 2021 were linked to opioids.
Traci’s son Mike is among those who lost his life to addiction. He passed away at the age of 31, and Traci had dedicated much of her time to try to reduce the stigma around addiction, sound an alarm about the crisis level it has reached in Canada – and force political leaders to do something about it. She feels the lives of people like her son have been weaponized for political purposes – “that's what it feels like they're doing,” she said. “One side says one thing, the other side says something else: we should be working together - this should be a nonpartisan issue.”
In our series Digging Deeper, we’re taking a closer look at this crisis in four parts: talking to Traci about her family’s experience losing Mike, to Chris Cull who lived with his addiction for more than a decade and explains what it’s like to endure, to Dr. Monty Gosh about the science behind addiction and what happens to our brains, and to Marcus Gee about the debate raging on how to address the opioid crisis.
Listen Now
The entire series can be listened to here: https://omny.fm/shows/the-vassy-kapelos-show/digging-deeper-canadas-toxic-drug-crisis
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Trump confronts repeated boos during raucous Libertarian convention speech
Donald Trump was booed repeatedly while addressing Saturday night’s Libertarian Party National Convention.
This type of screen time has the worst effect on kids: experts
According to some experts, there is one type of screen time that is continuously excessive, and it's having a severe effect on our children.
Family of toddler found dead at small-town Ont. daycare no closer to answers after year of investigation
A year has passed since two-year-old Vienna Irwin was found on the property of a home-based daycare in small-town Ontario, but her family says they are no closer to answers of what happened that day.
Grayson Murray, two-time PGA Tour winner, dead at 30
Two-time PGA Tour winner Grayson Murray died Saturday morning at age 30, one day after he withdrew from the Charles Schwab Cup Challenge at Colonial.
Humboldt Broncos crash victims and families react to decision to deport truck driver
The family of one of the victims of the Humboldt Broncos bus crash in 2018 says they are 'thankful' for a decision by a Calgary immigration board to deport the driver of the truck involved.
Fatal plane crash reported near Squamish, B.C.
The Transportation Safety Board of Canada has confirmed it is working with local Mounties and the BC Coroners Service after a plane crash near Squamish, B.C. Friday night.
'God forgives but we don’t': Loud outburst from stabbing victim’s family during sentencing hearing
An emotional outburst in a London, Ont. courtroom Friday disrupted the sentencing hearing of a woman who pleaded guilty for her part in the death of 29-year-old Mohammed Abdallah.
Three dead after vehicle plunged down a 100-foot embankment in Shediac, N.B.
Three people have died after a vehicle veered off the road in Shediac N.B., Friday morning.
Appeal denied for Edmonton soldier accused of trying to kill her 3 children
An Edmonton woman found guilty of trying to kill her three children has been denied an appeal.