My Life and Death on Opioids


BY CHRIS WILLIE

In November 2017, The Walrus started working with Chris Willie on a memoir about his fentanyl addiction. While writing the article, Willie died from an overdose. This version of his story is published with his family’s approval

Four Unlikely Activists


BY SANDI TANTARDINI, LEIGH CHAPMAN, JENNIFER JOHNSTON, AND JUDITH ROSSMAN

These women lost children and siblings. Grief pushed them to act.

2017 Was Canada’s Worst Year yet for Overdose Deaths


BY THE WALRUS STAFF

A by-the-numbers look at the country’s skyrocketing opioid-overdose rates

Saying No to Drugs Isn’t an Answer to Addiction


BY CARLYN ZWARENSTEIN

Why one Ottawa doctor believes harm reduction is the most effective treatment for drug use

Rural Canada Faces its own Opioid Crisis


BY SHARON J. RILEY

In remote Alberta, a person can go for days without seeing much of anyone. So what happens if you’re overdosing?

What’s Inside a Naloxone Kit?


BY WALRUS STAFF

How the life-saving medication works

How Do We Protect Our Kids from the Opioid Crisis?


BY VESNA PLAZACIC

Why some parents want the power to involuntarily admit their children to treatment programs

The Case for Assisted Drug Injection


BY WENDY GLAUSER

Helping users with their drugs may sound like a counterintuitive fix to the opioid crisis, but it can save lives

The Other Side of Fentanyl


BY TEVA HARRISON

I have terminal cancer, and without the powerful painkiller, I live in agony.

Credits

Produced by Lauren McKeon, Natalie Vineberg, and Angela Misri
Editing by Lauren McKeon, Daniel Viola, and Harley Rustad
Digital presentation by Angela Misri, Dmitry Benjaminov, and Judy Ziyi Gu
Art direction by Natalie Vineberg
Research by Amy Van Den Berg, Sebastian Leck, and Daina Goldfinger
Fact-checking by Viviane Fairbank, Allison Baker, Jonah Brunet, Nathaniel Basen, Erica Ngao, Seila Rizvic, Nicole Schmidt, Amy Van Den Berg, Sebastian Leck, Daina Goldfinger, and Allie Downham

The Walrus Staff