Health minister says overdose issue requires treatment without judgment

VANCOUVER — Federal Health Minister Jane Philpott says more people are expected to die of illicit opioid overdoses in Canada this year compared with nearly 2,500 fatalities recorded in 2016.
“It is going to get worse before it gets better,” Philpott told the National Health Leadership Conference on Monday, calling British Columbia “ground zero” because the crisis claimed 935 lives in the province last year.
The complex problem of substance use is rooted in social is