Prescription heroin gets green light in Canada

CNN interviewed Eugenia Oviedo-Joekes, a UBC professor in the School of Population and Public Health, for a story on Health Canada’s amended regulations that will allow doctors to prescribe heroin to treat people who are severely addicted to the drug.

Oviedo-Joekes led an experimental drug trial which examined the feasibility and effectiveness of heroin-assisted treatment in Canada and spoke about the rising number of opioid deaths in B.C.

“In British Columbia, the last [death] count was beyond 400 people and it is estimated by the end of the year, we will reach 800 deaths due to fentanyl,” Oviedo-Joekes said.