New Canadian Medical Association head calls for debate on decriminalizing opioids

The new president of the Canadian Medical Association is calling on politicians to have an "open and courageous" debateabout decriminalizing opioids in the face of a nationwide overdose crisis.

"I think the time for having those conversations is now," Dr. Gigi Osler told the CBC's Chris Hall in an interview airing Saturday on CBC Radio's The House.

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"With the opioidcrisis at the stage it is now, it's probably worth it to have that open and courageous conversation, to look at whether decriminalization would be part of the solution or would it contribute to the problem."

Oslersaid she uses the word "courageous" to describe such a debatebecause Canadian society's prevailing attitudestoward substance abuse particularly ofopioids makesuch a conversation politically perilous.

"There's still a lot of stigma associated with people who have anopioiduse disorder," she said. "To decriminalizeopioidsalmost means for some people they need to accept it."

At least 1,036 Canadians died in the first three months of this year of what appeared to be opioid overdoses, raising the opioidepidemic's national death toll to more than8,000 people since January 2016,according to newly released government figures.

"The opioid crisis certainly is a huge public health crisis right now," Osler said, echoingMontreal and Toronto's health departments, which are urging the federal government to treat drug use as a public health issue rather than a criminal one.

Trudeau: decriminalizing opioids'not part of the plan'

In the House of Commonson Wednesday, discussing the Liberals' approach to the opioidcrisis, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said his government "will not treat this as a criminal issue" a statement his health minister, Ginette PetitpasTaylor, has echoed.

But for now, the door to decriminalization remains firmly shut. At a town hall in February, Trudeau said lifting criminal penalties for illegal opioiduseis "not a step that Canada is looking at taking at this point."

In July, a spokesperson for PetitpasTaylor said the government is working insteadto reduce barriers to treatment by approving more than 25 supervised consumption sites and making it easier for health professionals to provide access to opioid substitution therapies.

Health Minister on opioid deaths

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Ginette Petitpas-Taylor spoke to the CBC's Paul MacInnis after QP on Tuesday

Oslersaid those strategies are "all very much needed."

"The one strategy that continues to be needed is optimal prescribing practices," she added. "We continue to work with our physicians so we're part of the solution in terms of appropriate opioidprescribing, recognizing when alternate therapies are available."

But Osleralso agreed with PetitpasTaylor's statement earlier this week that there is "no silver bullet"solution for the crisis.

"It's a complex problem," she said.

It's also getting worse, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada's latest trend report. In 2016, slightly more than 3,000 Canadians died of apparent opioid overdoses. That number grew to close to 4,000 deaths last year.

Listen to the full interview with Dr. Gigi OslerSaturday on CBC Radio's The House.