Overdose: Heartbreak And Hope in Canada’s Opioid Crisis by Benjamin Perrin – Book #51

The book is very well researched and covers why it’s happening, how it’s increasing, and actions to take to address the matter. Going in, I wasn’t sure what to expect, I’m really impressed at the compassionate approach the author took; I found it very rare and so refreshing. The book isn’t a lengthy one, the author was able to get his points across while explaining many different aspects, efficiently and effectively. It’s informative, and eye opening, I highly recommend this book! I’ve had this book for a while and once I read Jen’s passionate review, I had to prioritize it ASAP.



Thank you netgalley, Penguin Random House and Viking for this ARC in exchange for a review.

"Many people in our society are living with deep pain and unresolved trauma. They need our compassion, not our condemnation. Yet condemnation is precisely how people who use illicit drugs are treated. As social outcasts. We insist that they accept "personal responsibility" while we ignore our own moral responsibility to help them. More than anything they're blamed. Blamed for the "bad decisions" or "poor choices" they've made, with no understanding or empathy for how they came to arrive at that place in their lives. They're even blamed for dying."

I'm hoping many people will pick this book up. The opioid crisis touches us all. It knows no age, race, social standing or sex. People are dying everyday. This book is a wonderfully researched book about opioid use in Canada and how there are new therapeutic responses to this epidemic. Some are going to seem quite radical but this book did a great job explaining why they are so needed. How what we are doing now is not working and actually has caused more harm. The author Benjamin Perrin worked alongside Prime Minister Harper and had very conservative views on addiction and the "war on drugs". By him writing this book and investigating this crisis he changed his mind and now is in support of harm reduction and safer supply. I appreciate his efforts and research.

I've worked in the front lines for 10 years now and I've seen a lot. But what touches me more than anything are the people. Each with their own story, their own struggles and their own hopes.

The opposite of addiction is connection. ❤

Thank you to Viking and Penguin Random House Canada for providing me with an ARC via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

Powerful. Heart-breaking. Astonishing. Eye-opening. Informative. A must-read for all Canadians.

Overdose: Heartbreak and Hope in Canada's Opioid Crisis is an introduction to the ongoing opioid crisis, a national health emergency not only here in Canada, but around the globe. Someone is dying every two hours in Canada from illicit drug overdose. The victims are many, and overdose does not discriminate. Every single one of these people is somebody's someone. Despite the rising numbers and the thousands who have died, these victims have remained largely invisible. Benjamin Perrin shines a light on the crisis, and offers a different way forward.

This is without a doubt one of the hardest reviews I have ever written. Why, you may ask? It's an issue very near and dear to my heart, as earlier this year, I lost my favourite person in the entire world to an accidental overdose. I miss him every single day, and I know I always will. He loved baseball, video games and budgies. He was care-free and goofy, an eternal optimist with a smile that lit up a room, the most caring person I've ever met, one to lend a hand without passing judgement, above all he was kind, considerate and loving. And yet, he battled with mental health and addiction from the time he was 15, one that would ultimately take his life. So this is very personal for me.

Perrin does a wonderful job in conducting his research and presenting his findings in a very readable fashion. His research clearly shows that the war on drugs hasn't, and isn't working, and that as a society we need to rethink our approach - moving towards a more compassionate and understanding approach with an emphasis on safe-supply, and decriminalization. This book is put together in a very humanistic way, in that it puts forth many stories from the frontlines, while still remaining evidenced-based. It is without a doubt a book we need. This book focuses mainly on what is happening in B.C. (where Perrin did most of his research, thus understandable), but it doesn't end there. Thousands of Canadians are losing their lives, and yet little is being done about it.

I hope this book can help shine a light on a health crisis many know nothing about, break down barriers, and destigmatize addiction and drug users. Addiction is a disease just like diabetes, asthma, heart disease, cancer, etc. However, it is certainly not addressed or viewed that way. The medical world would never deny, nor does society shame someone needing insulin to treat their diabetes. The same cannot be said for addiction, and this is the reason so many users turn to illicit drugs, and use alone, because they feel ashamed.

Overdose is absolutely necessary, because it sheds light on an ongoing health crisis being swept under the rug (even more so now with a different pandemic taking centre stage). We have seen Canada rally in the face of Covid-19, but the opioid crisis has continued to ravage the nation. If we can spend billions of dollars on one virus, I certainly hope we can rally to help spark policy stage and provide aid and resources in support of another pressing health crisis. The government is failing, current laws and treatments are doing more harm than good, lives are being lost, but we have the ability to make a difference.

If you're to read one book this year please let it be this is the one!

Loved, loved, loved this book! I don’t think we will ever understand what it will take to get a handle on the opioid epidemic. A must read!

I can honestly say that this book was thought provoking and eye opening. It took the opioid crisis and described it, defined it and smashed it. It is not a poor drug addict problem. It is a huge world wide issue and it’s people from all walks of life. We need to stop simply blaming the individual and take a look at the whole picture. Compassion is necessary and this book does not allow you to feel any other way.

Overdose by Benjamin Perrin is an incredibly eye opening and well researched book that tells of the Opioid crisis in Canada. Right from the start we are hit by the raw brutal facts and figures and they don't stop hitting you until the end. We are taken on an interesting journey from discovering what Fentanyl is, through to who's lives are that are affected by the drug , right through to possible solutions and their pros and cons.
As someone who lives on the other side of the world to Canada I hadn't heard anything at all about the opioid crisis so it was a huge shock to read facts such as more Canadian people died from a Fentanyl overdose in one year than die in the Korean and Afghanistan conflicts combined! Some of the stories of the people / families affected by Fentanyl overdoses were heartbreaking. And just as horrific were the stories of emergency services
personnel who were so traumatised by the scenes they were attending that they were at best, attending counselling, and at worst, had ended their own lives. It's unbelievable how something with such a huge impact on a country can be happening without the world noticing.
The book is very data and acronym heavy so does need require some focus but it isn't dry and I found it interesting enough to keep me turning the pages. The only criticism I have is that it is a little repetitive. At times the author would quote someone he had interviewed who made a certain point and then he would then re-make that point himself.
This is definitely a shocking read for anyone, whether they are aware of the crisis or not. It shows us how complex the Government systems can be when we or our loved ones need to access help and support at the most difficult of times.

My interest in this e-ARC copy of 'Overdose' was linked to my interest in the drug issues within Australia, especially in light of the reviews of drug testing at music festivals and the zero tolerance approach to drugs by our police force. Reading another country's point of view and experiences is useful in this context. Benjamin Perrin's work and expertise as a criminal justice advisor and an evidence-based drug policy advocate was very strong and clear throughout this book. The information provided about particular drugs, what they do and what to do about them seemed very straight forward and objective. It did give an eye-opening illustration about the effects of drug-taking, and that things don't need to be they way they are, with reference to safer drug-taking in order to keep people alive and safely move them out of addiction. Our society, whether it be in Canada or even globally, can address this in a different way to obtain a more proactive result. and keep people alive.

I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. Thank you NetGalley.

Overdose is about Canada's current struggles with the opiod epidemic. Opiods are clearly an issue everywhre, just not Canada, but it was interesting an dinformative to see a story based on that.

This is a powerful story.

Much needed resource that shines a light on the epidemic to hit North America. I love that the author points of the faulty thinking behind criminalizing opioids and that it will do more harm than good.

There's a couple of things about this title that make it stand out. The first is that it is Canadian; it was extremely relatable and appreciated that this book spoke to the opioid crisis in Canada specifically. The other is that Perrin is admittedly a conservative who was the top criminal justice advisor to Prime Minister Harper - not entirely who you would expect to be writing a book about the opioid crisis. Especially this book, which not only takes a look at the simple questions of what the opioid crisis is and why is fentanyl so deadly, but also examines why our current approach to drugs and drug users is almost certainly not the best approach. Perrin's examination of the different aspects of drugs and drug users, from why do they use,to where is the supply coming from, and how can we stop people from overdosing is well thought out and discussed, though you would expect no less from a law professor. There is, in my opinion, an over-reliance on long quotations from the many people he interviews.

This book would be an excellent, thought-provoking and hopefully eye-opening read for anyone, especially Canadians, who is looking to learn more about the opioid crisis and the people it affects. That is especially true if you hold conservative opinions towards drugs and drugs users. For those that already lean a bit to the left, you may find that it leaves you wanting a bit more depth.

A thorough and informative book on the world of fentanyl, a synthetic opioid that can be 100 times more potent than morphine. It has no smell or taste and a dose that's the size of a grain of salt is enough to kill. The author makes a good case that criminalizing opioids makes the crisis worse and he advocates compassion for addicts, pointing out it's a chronic illness that needs to be treated. Monitored injections of prescription opioids has proven more successful than detox, but there is no federal political will for this approach in Canada -- not by the current Liberals, nor by the Conservatives before them.

This is not an easy book to get through. The first two thirds lays out the all-encompassing nature of the problem crisis and the shocking number of deaths -- more than our WWI and WWII deaths combined. Thank goodness for the final third of the book, which explores treatment options, success in BC and survivor stories.

Highly recommended.