Canadian senator and former Vancouver mayor Larry Campbell says he wants the federal and provincial governments to allow free opioid prescriptions for people with addictions in an effort to stem the West Coast’s fentanyl crisis.

The Crosstown Clinic has been studying the use of heroin as a treatment for the small population of addicts in the DTES who don't respond to regular treatments like methadone - and they're hopeful the new federal government will look more favourably on their work.