Gerald Heinrichs is a lawyer in Regina, Saskatchewan.Two decades ago, comfortable Canadians may have looked down on inner-city drug problems in the United States. But things have changed. In 2026, those same unhappy scenes have settled into Canada's cities from coast to coast.In July, the Globe and Mail described Vancouver's Downtown Eastside as a "vortex of misery.” But that sorry landscape of open drug use, vagrancy, and encampments is now part of Canada's smaller cities too. "Junkies sway in the methadone dawn" is one author's description.A 2026 UN report confirmed what many suspected. The report says that one out of 16 people today use illicit drugs. It goes on to say this is "the highest level at any time in human history."There is more than one reason for this epidemic. According to many Americans, one reason is a deliberate plan by China to weaken and destabilize Western countries. A 2024 US House committee report found that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) provides the vast majority of key resources used by Mexican cartels. In June 2026, the US House Committee on Foreign Affairs held a hearing called Beijing's Poison Pipeline: The CCP's Role in the Fentanyl Crisis. This CCP plan has been called a "reverse opium war" or "hybrid warfare.”Another reason, though, is that a large part of our society now tolerates, if not accepts, illicit drug use. Silk Road was an early example of that. The drug-selling website was shut down by US law enforcement more than 10 years ago. But it was, among other things, a forum for people who believed that all types of drug use should be free and unrestricted. For them, illicit drug use is a mere extension of liberty and the pursuit of happiness..Bill Maher is one celebrity who claims that all drugs should be legalized, and he mocks those who disagree. Columbia University professor Carl Hart says the same thing. In a 2021 GQ article entitled What if Drugs Aren't as Bad as We've Been Told, Professor Hart explains his philosophy of "Drug Use for Grown Ups.”Meanwhile, in Canada, the federal government has, to a significant extent, agreed with this idea. And so, over 4,000 outlets now legally sell cannabis products to any adult who wants it.But this pro-drug philosophy is far from universal. And it runs against a mountain of objections.Many of our religions tell their followers to abstain from illicit drugs — often calling the body a “temple." Pope Francis called drug addiction an "invisible prison.” At a 2014 conference, he delivered a straight message: "No to every type of drug use. It is as simple as that."But even atheist libertarian Ayn Rand agreed. She wrote, “Drug addiction is the attempt to obliterate one's consciousness … it is so obscene and evil that any doubt about the moral character of its practitioners is itself obscenity.”.There is another large group that speaks against drug use. It includes addicts battling to rehabilitate, distraught families seeking consolation at Narcotics Anonymous, and families mourning at Canada's daily drug-death funerals — well over 5,000 in 2025. For them, illicit drug use is just what the expression says: "suicide paid in installments.”But perhaps the biggest reason for Canada's epidemic is an undefinable growth in modern sadness. In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts is an acclaimed book discussing this drug-use subject. There are many reasons for despair, but the book says that abusive and broken homes, childhood neglect, and sexual assault lie at the root of most hard-core drug use. Gabor Mate writes, "The question is never 'Why the addiction?' but 'Why the pain?'"Perhaps desperate times call for desperate measures. In 2026, the Big Stone Cree Nation enacted "a full ban on the use" of illegal drugs with penalties including "removal from housing units" and "denial of services.” In 2025, the Kehewin First Nation declared itself to be a "dry reserve" prohibiting all drugs and alcohol.Alberta's recent Compassionate Intervention Act is another event. It will soon allow involuntary committal of severe drug addicts into programs or even institutions. More than 30 US states already have that kind of program..The Trump administration cannot be accused of taking the drug crisis lightly. Law enforcement action against trafficking and smugglers gets much attention. But there have also been significant DEA resources poured into education, including justthinktwice.gov and getsmartaboutdrugs.gov. They show a proactive message from government that drugs are bad. US Drug Czar Sara Carter says, "We will build a culture of resilience where living drug-free is the norm."In Canada, this drug problem has grown so large that some may doubt it can be reversed. But Japan and South Korea are places where only about 1% of the population use illicit drugs. So if it is possible there, then it must be possible elsewhere.But if Canadians want to solve this dire problem, it requires a change to Canada's indifference to the ugliness of illicit drugs. And it requires strong leaders who are committed to that cause.Gerald Heinrichs is a lawyer in Regina, Saskatchewan.
