In the second half of a two-part discussion about Alberta’s escalating opioid crisis, our hosts are once again joined by Dr. Hakique Virani, an Associate Clinical Professor in the Department of Medicine at the University of Alberta and a specialist in public health and addictions. In this episode, Dr. Virani explores some of what addiction means and why it’s difficult to categorize addiction as a disease. He discusses society’s aversion to differences and how criminal drug laws serve as a barrier to security, especially for many racialized and marginalized groups, who often emerge from incarceration at a higher risk of death from overdose. He also explains the importance of interventions such as Naloxone distribution and supervised consumption sites in saving lives.