Morning Update: Opioid-related deaths surge among Ontario teens, young adults from 2014 to 2021: report

News Snapshot:

Good morning, The new study on opioid use by 15- to 24-year-olds, which is being released today, is a cause for alarm, says Tara Gomes, lead of the Ontario Drug Policy Research Network and a scientist at Unity Health Toronto. The study found that emergency-room visits for opioid overdoses among 15- to 24-year-olds quadrupled from 69 in the second quarter of 2014 to 297 visits in the second quarter of 2021. Deaths tripled from 21 per quarter in 2014 to 58 in the first quarter of 2021, although there was a drop to 29 deaths in the second quarter of...