The latest news articles featuring BC Centre on Substance Use.
Provide regulated opioids to stem fentanyl overdose crisis, says top medical officer
July 29, 2019 | Vancouver Sun
B.C. medical experts say a regulated legal drug supply is key to reducing an epidemic of overdose deaths. A report released on Friday by Vancouver Coastal Health makes 21 recommendations to reduce fatalities, including expanding prevention and treatment programs and distributing legal opioids on a t...
Rod Knight: Much work remains in fight against social and health inequities of LGBTQ2S people, especially youth
July 25, 2019 | Georgia Straight
With another Pride upon us, we have many reasons to celebrate: over the decades, we have decriminalized homosexuality, amended the Canadian Human Rights Act to include sexual orientation, and seen same-sex marriage officially recognized by the state. Advances in human rights for LGBTQ2S people in Ca...
Deleted tweet about big pharma by associate minister for addictions ‘laughably absurd,’ says scientist
July 17, 2019 | CBC News - Calgary
A now-deleted tweet by Jason Luan wondering if the research supporting supervised consumption sites was funded by big pharma, has some questioning his qualifications as Alberta’s associate minister for mental health and addictions. The tweet read, in part, “How much of the so called ‘evidenc...
Kids and drugs: The Vancouver teachers transforming substance use education
July 16, 2019 | Vancouver Sun
Art Steinmann wanted to revolutionize how we teach kids about drugs. The veteran educator saw that traditional drug education — based on scare tactics and intimidation — just wasn’t working. Worse, it was leaving kids unprepared for the realities of substance use. “It was based on very simpl...
B.C. harm-reduction sites, doctors struggling with new type of overdose
July 09, 2019 | Vancouver Sun
Doctors and frontline health-care workers say they are responding to an increasing number of overdoses involving opioids contaminated with benzodiazepines, restricted substances normally used to treat anxiety. Benzodiazepines don’t respond to emergency treatments such as naloxone, or Narcan, which...
