Need for equity in treatment of substance use among Indigenous people in Canada

In Canada, as in many other countries, Indigenous people have poorer health, on average, than non-Indigenous people, by most measures of health and well-being. Indigenous people (comprising First Nations, Metis and Inuit people in Canada) also carry a disproportionate burden of the harms related to substance use. The linked study reports new findings from the Cedar Project, an ongoing study of Indigenous youth in British Columbia,1 which provide further evidence of elevated mortality rates among Indigenous youth who use drugs. These findings serve as a stark reminder of the need for tailored services and policies that are better able to meet the needs of Indigenous people in Canada. More generally, frameworks for addressing health and health care inequities among Indigenous people (generated through document review and participatory research approaches) share an emphasis on cultural safety and trauma-informed practice.