A Safer Approach: Rethinking Drug Prescriptions in the Face of Overdose Epidemics

As record numbers of people in the U.S. die from drug overdoses, communities are searching for tools to prevent them. A new program in Canada could serve as a model.

Over the past few years, government-approved clinics have opened across the country, where people can use street drugs under medical supervision. If they overdose, they can get life-saving care immediately. Some doctors are even prescribing powerful opioids to patients to keep them from using street drugs that may be laced with deadly chemicals.

It's a controversial program, and some in the medical community argue that it could encourage drug use.

NPR's addiction correspondent Brian Mann visited some of those supervised injection sites in Ottawa, to see how the program is working.

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